Under a Blanket of Blue
by CreatedTheSoundOfMadness
Summary: Today is the day of one of Boston's oldest traditions. The Boston Marathon. Emma Swan is a detective in the Boston Police Department. Regina Mills is an EMT. When the clock strikes 2:49 PM and the world around them shatters, who will they emerge as? What happens when two strangers are faced with unconscionable horrors and have to work together to save the world around them?
1. Chapter 1

Harsh raindrops slapped against the clouded windows of the modest two-bedroom house. Emma laid in bed, listening to the remnants of the previous night's storm wash its way through the streets of Boston. Frustrated, she rolled to her side and retrieved the cell phone off the Ikea nightstand and groaned as the display lit up the time. 3:11 a.m.

"For the love of fuck!" She growled, slamming the phone back onto the nightstand and crushing her face into the soft pillow.

This had become her unwilling routine for the two weeks. No matter how many at-home remedies she swallowed or sleeping pills she took, every day she woke up at 3:11 a.m. from the same dream. Well, not the same exactly. Sometimes she could almost make out the face that floated through her subconscious. Almost. She had been about to touch the figure that haunted her dreams when something bright flooded the dream and she was jolted awake. Fingertips had been a mere few inches from discovery.

"Stupid- Can't believe- Fuckin' dreams. Ugh!"

Emma haphazardly tried to kick off her covers, only to entangle herself more completely within the satiny confines and frustrate her more. She scooted to the side of the bed, hoping she could lift a leg out of the mess, but instead caught her foot on it and send herself tumbling to the floor. With a grunt, she breathed out deeply in defeat and stared up at the ceiling.

"Why can't I just see your face? Who are you?"

After several minutes of laying on the ground and pulling herself out of the sheets, she stood and sleepy footsteps padded toward the bathroom. She jumped slightly when she caught a glimpse of herself in the large mirror. Her wild curls flowed in every which direction and the expensive eyeliner she'd applied for her previous night out was smeared all the way up her forehead.

"Jesus, how does that even happen? Gareth is so giving me my money back."

She reached through the shower curtain and switched on the shower, bouncing on her feet until the familiar rise of steam began to fill the room. Quickly, Emma stripped out of her underwear and tank top, not wasting any time and stepping past the curtain into the scalding stream. A low groan of appreciation rumbled deep in her chest as she tilted her head back, allowing the water to wash over her hair and face. This dream hadn't been like the rest, she had gotten closer than any other time the figure had visited her over the last couple of weeks. At first, she thought it was a repressed memory from when she was a child, but as the dreams increased she realized she didn't know this person. Not in the conventional sense, anyway. There was something foreign, yet indescribably familiar about this person, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Literally.

Emma's life had always been a whirlwind of transplanting and adjustment. Her mother had been an addict, unable to care for her in the early years and decided the best way to give her child her best chance was to give full custody to Emma's grandparents. For the first 7 years of Emma's life, she was well cared for and truly cherished. Right before her 8th birthday, her grandparents were driving home from a doctor's appointment at Mass Gen. and were struck by a merging U-Haul on Storrow Drive.

 _Short legs raced down the narrow walkway of the yellow school bus and jumped from the top step, only to be met by two tall police officers. The female officer held out cautionary hands to the little girl, a gesture of openness despite the pained look on her face. Emma frowned, taking a step back from the officers and shifted the small Sailor Moon backpack on her shoulders._

" _Where's Nani?" The little girl's voice trembled as green eyes fogged over with moisture._

 _The policewoman crouched down to her level, keeping a respectful distance. "Baby girl, I'm sorry, something bad happened."_

" _No!" She yelled, pinching her eyes together and clasping both hands over her ears._

 _Emma wanted to run, run as far as her little legs would take her. She didn't care about the destination, only about escaping the jagged edges of the broken portrait she'd become accustomed to living her life inside._

 _A soft hand brushed her bangs back. "Your grandparents-"_

 _Small hands balled into fists and knees collided with the cold concrete, loose gravel sinking into tender skin._

" _Car crash-"_

 _Back and forth, she rocked. Praying, hoping that this was one of her nightmares and soon she'd wake up. This had to be a mistake, her grandparents couldn't be gone._

" _Didn't make it-"_

 _A mournful wail pierced the quiet cul-de-sac. Neighbors poured from the houses, some had already been standing in their respective driveways, but none approached the officers or the inconsolable little girl._

" _We have to go-"_

 _Emma jerked away from the other woman's advancing hand. With all the strength she could muster, she turned on her knees and moved to run, heavily scraping her knees in the process._

" _Grab her!" A deep voice boomed, presumably the male police officer._

 _There hadn't been many things that Emma's mother had taught her during the brief supervised visits over the last 8 years, but she engrained one very important lesson: if you must run, don't stop. Run as though your life depends on it, because one day, it just may. Today, Emma thought, was that day. Despite being small for her age, she was fast. Nani used to joke that she could give Roadrunner a run for his money. So, she ran. Blood streaked from her marred kneecaps and stained the white, lace-topped socks as she evaded the officers and two of her neighbors, narrowly missing Mrs. Pens' pug that was sunbathing on the nearby grass. She ran until her muscles ached and her throat burned, then she pushed herself harder to keep going. Just when she'd ducked behind a house two blocks away, her small frame crashed against something very solid and unwavering. It was a woman._

" _What are you doing in my backyard, girl?" The older woman inquired, hands firm on her hips and eyes pensive._

 _Emma stared with wide eyes up at the woman. The urge to run filled her stomach, but the other woman, sensing the child's unease, took a distancing step back._

" _Hey now, Pup, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. What has you running all over the neighborhood?"_

 _The woman's gentler tone and softened eyes helped relax Emma's shot nerves a little, and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding._

" _I- My- They-" Emma sputtered, trying to catch her breath and speak at the same time._

 _The woman, with a bit of difficulty, lowered herself to the grass and sat with her legs crossed, looking attentively at Emma._

" _One thought at a time, Darlin," She soothed, reaching and twisting her hair up into a bun. "What's your name?"_

 _Emma shuffled her feet, staring at the ground. "Emma."_

The cascade of ice-cold water jolted Emma from her thoughts, sending her jerking forward and slipping on her own feet. Thankfully, she'd managed to catch herself on the shower's wall handle without bruising herself too bad. Tentatively, she reached back through the cold water and shut off the valve, thankful for it to stop.

"Fuckin' Mondays," She groaned, wrenching the curtain open and grabbing her towel.

The morning continued as most did. The empty cardboard pizza box sat next to a half drank beer on the rugged coffee table. A pack containing two lone cigarettes lay underneath a mini torch lighter on the windowsill that led out to the fire escape, which was her favorite place to relax from the world's horrors. Her uniform was hanging up on the outside of her closet, a tradition she'd carried on from her grandfather. "A man is only as strong as his clothes are starched," he'd used to say.

Emma hugged the towel tight around her body as she crossed the room to her uniform. After having the last week off, her limbs felt sluggish as she put each leg through the navy blues. She stared at herself in the mirror, making sure to smooth out the nonexistent wrinkles on the crisp, white blouse. A nervous habit she'd pick up from her grandmother. It wasn't that Emma was worried about going back to work, but more so how others were going to react to her being back, even if it was for temporary desk duty. That was standard for the department when an officer has been shot.

Detective Emma Swan had chosen to work one of the many comic conventions floating through Boston that summer. Fellow officers inside her department had suggested she could make a fair amount of supplemental income working the con circuit as security, so she decided to give it a go. The convention started off without a single issue, and Emma had genuinely been enjoying herself while shuffling around celebrities and panelists to their designed areas. The majority of the fans had been respectful, keeping their distance when Emma gave them a stern look, and some had even asked to take a picture with her instead of her current charge. What she hadn't been anticipating was the front security's inability to flag a weapon from entering the convention center. As she was ushering the latest celebrity through the convention center, an overly enthusiastic fan attempted to bum rush her and the other two assigned security officers. The other guards had extended their arms in protest to stop the fan, and that's when all hell broke loose.

The next thing Emma knew, she had woken up in a local hospital's intensive care unit. The gunman had shot her with a single bullet, thankfully a clean through and through, but she had lost a great deal of blood on-scene. She'd spent the remainder of the weekend in the ICU, trying to recover from the wound and bruised ribs, and yelling profusely at the doctors to release her to go home. Finally, after a small infection and a number of unfortunate angry encounters with the nursing staff, Emma was able to rest in her own home with intentions to return to work the following week. Today was the day, her first day she'd spent fielding questions, concerns, and unavoidable shitty food dishes from the rest of her department. Up until now, she'd been able to ignore the maxed-out voicemail on her phone and work emails, but not anymore. She groaned a little louder than necessary as she zipped up her leather boots and stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom.

"And here I was, just starting to get used to sleeping with a normal schedule," Emma pouted, observing a piece of her blouse that had come untucked from her pants. She left the bedroom with a huff and grabbed her keys and satchel before exiting the house.

Emma lived on a dead-end loop street in one of the most beautiful areas of Jamaica Plain if you ever asked for her opinion. Blossom trees lined the cracked sidewalks and the quiet hum of the light, distant traffic filled the air as she descended the steps. In the narrow driveway beside the house sat two of her prize possessions, waiting for the detective to make a very important decision: two wheels or four? Logically, she knew she should take her car to work and avoid the inevitable commentary of the nosy dispatcher, but she also had a taste for the edge this morning. The dream from earlier still bothered her and riding her bike had always helped clear her mind. _Black Betty,_ Emma mused to herself, smiling in the covered bike's direction. The dewy gravel crunched under her boots as she eagerly strolled over to pull the cover off, carefully draping it along the porch railing. She mounted the bike and lovingly ran her fingertips along the swan engravement on the tank. It had been a gift from her coworkers when she'd made detective; a simple outline of a swan spreading its wing open and a hint of bright sapphire trimming the wings for her years as a beat cop. She had never been so touched or felt so loved as she did when they unveiled it. Now, every time she rode, it reminded her that she wasn't alone anymore, and all the difficult times were worth something. Tugging the helmet off the handle, she slid it onto her head and sighed deeply as the familiar feeling of padding settled around her face. This was well worth facing the Chief's wrath later.

"Bullshit, Lucas!"

"Cry me a river, Jones. I won fair and square."

"Like hell you did! You're a right cheater!"

Emma entered the squad room in long strides, carefully balancing her coffee and a box full of doughnuts in her hands.

"I leave for a whopping 10 days and you guys are already at each other's throats?" Emma called out, flashing the room a bright smile.

"Swan!" Officer Jones called out, reaching for the teetering box.

"Get away from the booty!" Emma protested, steering hard to the side and setting the box on the conference table. "There's enough for everyone to have one, dig it!"

The smiling detective made a beeline for her desk as her fellow officers and detectives bolted toward the table, hip-checking and shoving each other out of the way to find the best sweet treat.

"Good lookin' out, Swan!" A voice rang out.

Emma flopped into the ripped leather chair, laughing in disbelief.

"Fuckin' bunch of vultures. I see how it is, you didn't even miss me!"

Her best friend dodged the squabbling officers and plopped herself directly into the detective's lap, uncaring as to who saw.

"I missed you, fucker! Like an ass-ton!"

Emma feigned surprise. "Oh, my. Is that more than a fuck-ton? Dare I say more than a metric fuck-ton?"

Ruby chuckled and gave her a tight hug. "Even more than a metric fuck-ton. I'm still mad you wouldn't let me bring anything over to you."

Emma winced at the pressure. "Hey, ease up, Rubes."

The tall brunette leaped up, hands covering her face in horror.

"Oh, shit! Emma, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head and gingerly massaged her side. "Nah, it's okay. I'll live. Tis' just a flesh wound!"

"You're so stupid," Ruby chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"I couldn't agree more."

The harsh voice cut through the chaotic room, silencing it immediately. The officers and detectives scattered away from the conference table, donut toppings flaking onto the floor in their wake. The chief was on deck.

Emma rose reflexively, body rigidly straight. "Chief Booth, sir."

Harsh angles cracked with a playful smirk. "At ease, soldier."

Her lips pursed in amusement as she approached her boss, extending an arm out. "Old habits die hard, Sir."

The Chief clasped her hand firmly in his then rumbled out a deep chuckle, pulling the younger woman tightly into an embrace.

"Good to see you back, kid. I missed hearing you run your mouth in here. If I had to listen to Jones and Lucas take any more bets about when you'd succumb to dysentery, I was going to drag your butt back myself."

Emma turned in horror to her fellow officers. "You did what?"

Officer Jones stifled a snort and Ruby sank further into her slightly broken armchair, pulling the beanie on her head to cover her face with a mumble.

"Beg your pardon, Officer Lucas? Care to repeat yourself for the class?" Emma teased, haughtily placing hands on her beltline.

Ruby inched the beanie back up to her hairline. "Well, you see- The thing is- Chief makes it sound bad when he puts it like that."

"You're getting tent duty for that one, Lucas," Chief Booth chortled, clapping Emma on the shoulder with a grin. "Speaking of Marathon Monday-"

Emma's eyes went wide. "No. Booth, no. Chief, don't you dare. Please."

He shrugged broad shoulders, smiling calmly. "I'm not the one that went and got herself shot at a nerd orgy, Swan. You know the rules. Everyone works Marathon Day, and since I can't exactly have you do dispatch after the last time…"

She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "That was one time and you know he deserved it."

"You dumped hot coffee in a dispatcher's lap, called him, and I quote, 'a needle-nosed dick rat bastard,' then proceeded to tell the entire room about how you thought, judging by the lack of bulge, that the hot coffee had the opposite effect on his balls."

The station room was deathly silent until a quiet giggle cut through the tension and Ruby bent between her legs to laugh, then promptly fell out of the chair. The rest of the room lost their composure.

"He took the last bear claw, Chief! Was I supposed to act? The disrespect! The cruelty!" Emma defended, throwing her hands up in the air.

Her futile arguments only amplified the wheezing laughter in the room and finally Ruby rose to embrace her friend.

"It's okay, Swanny. We'll get you another damn donut." She wiped at the tears streaming down her reddened face. "If only you could put that much fiery passion into finding yourself a woman!"

Chief Booth choked on the donut he'd retrieved from the conference table and pounded hard on his constricting chest, powdery plumes escaping from his lips.

"Goddamnit, Lucas. I was not prepared." He grimaced, voice hoarse and low.

Between the two, Emma glowered in self-pity and growing annoyance.

"Is this pick on Swan day?" She grumbled, giving Ruby a hard shove with her hip.

Ruby shoved her back, her duty belt clashing with Emma's hip bone with a hollow thump. They both grimaced.

"I didn't mean to do it that hard, so oops. But, you did it first. And, hell yes, it is! Your little vacation meant that I was paired with Jones for 2 weeks. Do you have any fucking idea how many rum jokes that dude has?"

"Hey!" Officer Jones cried out. "I'll have you know my wife thinks I'm delightful!"

"I doubt it's his conversational skills that his wife thinks are delightful." Emma chortled, voice only loud enough for Ruby to hear.

Ruby covered her mouth as a snort surfaced. Chief Booth waved a hand through the air, taking back control of the room.

"As I was saying before I was crudely interrupted."

"Don't you mean rudely?" Ruby mused.

The Chief gave her a sharp look and she bit her lips shut with a submissive downturn of her eyes.

"I know none of us like working the marathon. But, it's the biggest event of the year unless the Sox win the series, Pats go to the Superbowl, or heaven forbid, the Bruins win the cup."

The more religiously inclined officers made the sign of the cross and knocked on their wooden desks.

"Swan, you'll be with Jones at the finish line near the meddy tent where Officer Lucas will now be stationed." He ignored Ruby's quiet whine. "Officers Nolan, Humbert, and Cox will work the perimeter while Bravo team assist at the midpoint. If all goes well, next Monday will be an easy 12 and out, then the next shift takes over. Understood?"

Chief booth scanned the room for any signs of defiance, though every officer nodded as he made eye contact.

"Excellent, that's what I like to see. Jones, Lucas, and Swan meet me in my office in two minutes."

"Yes, Sir." They responded in trained unison.

The officers went about their individual tasks and the trio walked over to Emma's desk where she unclipped and placed her sidearm in the top drawer.

"What do you think he wants to see us about?" Jones asked, a frown deepening on his dark brows.

Ruby shrugged. "Probably gonna yell at us for some shit we haven't done yet. The usual."

Emma shook her head with a smile. "I forgot how much I missed you bastards. The stay-at-home life is definitely not for me."

Jones playfully nudged her with an elbow. "Guess that makes you the butch one in the relationship eh, lass?"

With a smirk, Emma closed the drawer and shrugged off her leather jacket. "You're just jealous because my Glock is bigger than yours."

"I work with fuckin' children," Ruby muttered under her breath. "Come on, fuckers. Chief said two minutes."

Chief Booth motioned for them to close the door and take a seat after they'd entered his office. Medals and trophies lined the several bookshelves that were carefully placed under the least burnt out ceiling lights. The bookshelves themselves contained classical literature, a few poetry anthologies, and surprisingly, an alarming number of "For Dummies" books.

"You wanted to speak to us, Sir?" Emma broke the silence as Jones closed the door.

The Chief nodded, frowning when she didn't sit. "Please, take a seat."

She shook her head. "I was on my ass for the last two weeks. The last thing I need to do is more sitting."

"Must be nice-" Ruby trailed off, sticking her tongue out.

"I was shot!" Emma grit out.

"While standing next to someone dressed like Goku from Dragon Ball Z," Jones added thoughtfully.

"I was protecting my charge." Emma narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"You literally swan dove like you were bobbing for apples, dude." Ruby squinted, tilting her head to the side.

"I took a bullet in the line of duty!"

"Line of duty or line of boobies? You were precariously close to Elvira's table, love."

The Chief cleared his throat, glancing down at his watch in unamused boredom.

"If you three are quite done, I do have a department to run."

"Sorry, Chief." They quietly apologized, one after the other without looking up at him.

"Lovely. Let's proceed then."

He pulled a manila folder from a stack and slid it across the desk, expression unreadable. Emma was the first to be brave and reached a hand toward it, eyes looking questioningly at their boss. When he gave her an approving nod, she took the folder and opened it. Her eyes shot up to him and a beaming smile spread infectiously across her lips. He returned the smile, then shifted slightly to focus on Ruby.

"Officer Lucas, if you please," He nodded to the folder in Emma's hands.

Ruby swallowed hard and took a deep breath, feeling all the heat in her body leave momentarily.

"Sir?" She squeaked, hesitantly taking the folder from her friend.

"Open the file, Lucas." His words were clipped and left no room for disagreement.

Nervous, her fingers twitched against the folder's edge. Next to her, Jones and Emma shared eat-shit grins and waited for the other woman's inevitable reaction. Ruby took another deep breath and opened the folder, an immediate high-pitch scream emitted from her lightly painted lips and she jumped up. The flimsy chair crashed to the floor and she almost tripped over it as she danced in place.

"Yes! Fucking yes! Is this for real? It better be for real because it's way past April Fool's and I can't drink on the job. Oh my god, Chief. Is this really happening?"

Ruby's eyes glistened with tears, threatening to break past her lashes as she bent at the waist with her elbows on her thighs.

"You earned it, Lucas. It's yours, if you want it, of course."

Eyes wide, she stood ramrod straight and nodded profusely.

"Fuck yes!" She winced, a tear escaping. "I mean, yes, Sir. I would be honored to accept that station."

The Chief opened his top drawer with a grin and withdrew a shiny silver pen, extending it to the younger woman.

"All you need to do is sign on the dotted line and I'll pass it on to HR to handle all the formalities."

Ruby's hand shook as she took the pen from his hand and she signed the bottom of the document, then closed the folder to hand it back.

Chief Booth rose and took the folder, tucking it into another pile. "Welcome to the team," He thrust an imposing hand out toward her, "Detective Lucas."

Emma and Jones fist-bumped and stood proudly next to their friend as she held back tears during the handshake. They turned their attention to their chief when the pair broke apart and Ruby had taken her seat again.

"While you were on leave," He nodded to Emma, "I paired Jones with Lucas because I wanted to see how she'd do under pressure. Our girl over here single-handedly took down a perp in Back Bay that had beaten a woman within inches of her life."

Emma looked down at Ruby, extremely impressed. The other woman blushed and averting her eyes in minor embarrassment.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," She whispered.

"Wasn't that big of a deal?" Jones gasped, looking up at Emma. "The bastard tried to lose us in a building and do you know what this crazy, incredible little psycho did?" He pointed at Ruby and Emma shook her head. "She jumped from a fucking fire escape and tackled the guy angry birds style."

They all shared a quiet chuckle and Jones continued.

"He almost booted her off and somehow, contortionist type of shit, pinned his head with one foot and pin his leg with the other while still managed to cuff him. It was spectacular."

Emma smiled proudly at her friend and leaned down to hug her around the shoulders, ignoring the tugging pain in her side.

"I'm wicked proud of you, Rubes."

Ruby reciprocated the hug and stood to shake the Chief's hand one last time before tearing out of the room with excitement. The remaining three in the room as they watched her jump on the closest desk with ease.

"Guess who got promoted, bitches?!" Ruby screamed, doing an impressively similar rendition of the running man on the narrow surface.

Regina Mills had become an EMT almost immediately out of high school, living and breathing the accelerated training program for four months before diving head first into the first EMS service that would hire her. To no one's surprise, Regina had graduated the program with exceptional honors and awards: Top Student, a clinical recognition from a well-respected emergency department physician, Volunteer of the Year from the local fire station, etc. On paper and the surface, Regina Mills was the ideal candidate for hire and had proven her presence in the field. That was, before everything crashed down around her, and a piece of her soul was deeply embedded into the finish line of her favorite yearly city event: The Boston Marathon.

 **3:11 AM, April 13** **th** **, 2013**

"Gina, get up! Our shift starts in less than an hour!"

Regina startled from the bed, reflexively jumping up to stand and, instead of landing on her feet, faceplanted on the hardwood floor. She groaned and internally cursed herself for switching shifts with Mary. Switching to from night to day shift usually wasn't something she'd do, but the other woman had begged her until she had finally relented. At least she knew it would be an easy shift, just sit and look pretty until one of the runners predictably passed out from exhaustion then care for them in the medical area. No big deal. She kind of felt bad for Mary because she'd wanted the day off to run in the marathon, an endeavor Regina never saw herself attempting. She ran for two things: someone or something is chasing her and if someone was dying.

"I'm up!" She let her head drop to the floor, defeated. "I need coffee."

Her housemate and friend, Belle, burst through the bedroom door and skidded to a stop a few steps in front of Regina, a to-go cup in her hand.

Regina brushed the wild curls out of her face, glaring up at the other woman. "That better be for me."

Belle squatted down and extended her arm, "One large, dark roast, bitter as fuck coffee for the Queen of sleeping in!"

"Give me that," Regina groused, snatching the cup and taking a long drink. "Oh, god. That's fucking good. Thank you."

Belle stood and walked to the closet, retrieving a starched uniform. "Feel free to get up at any point and get dressed. We have to go to roll-call before we staged and I, for one, do not wish to hear Gold rip us a new one because you decided to do a rendition of Sleeping Beauty."

Regina disentangled herself from the sheets, careful not to tip the cup, and took the uniform from her friend with a smirk.

"Are you sure you don't want Gold to get heated? I know you two have a thing going and clearly one of you is into authority play."

Belle blushed, wide-eyed. "We are not having this discussion. Get dressed and meet me downstairs. I packed food for your ungrateful ass and we need to get going."

"Thanks, Mom!" Regina laughed, watching Belle retreat quickly from the room.

Once she was fully dressed and her hair in a military braid, she joined Belle downstairs where they moved in a well-practiced dance to ready themselves for their shift. They'd become fast friends in EMT class during a crossover training with the fire department on car extraction. Belle was chosen as the "victim," stuck in the front passenger seat and Regina was practicing stabilization while the fire department used the Jaws of Life to pry off the car roof. Well, that was what was supposed to happen, but Belle had decided to have a go at Regina and distracted her with jokes about her cleavage strategically cradling Belle's neck. Needless to say, the pair were pulled out of the demonstration because they couldn't stop laughing, and it was beginning to spread to the firefighters. That was three years before the bombings.

The pair had been assigned to the medical tent just past the marathon finish line, much to their excitement. Both being Boston natives, this day was one of the most important of the year, aside from opening day at Fenway, of course. The marathon brought runners from different cities, states, and even countries. Boston had always been a melting pot of people from all walks of life, and the marathon was one of the major events that brought them all together.

 **11:31 AM**

The barriers were lined with onlookers and supporters cheering on their friends and loved ones in the beautiful, sunny April afternoon. Groups of coworkers, friends, and families crowded the nearby shops and restaurants, eating and drinking in the peaceful serenity of Marathon Day, soaking in the sunlight without a cloud in sight. The race began in Hopkinton earlier that morning and the final wave of runners had entered the race fifteen minutes ago. Everything about the day was perfect. Until suddenly it wasn't.

 **2:25 PM**

"Get your ass over here, Mills!"

Regina spun to confront the voice, scowl at the ready until she realized it was Belle signaling for her attention. With a quirk of her brow and upturn to the side of her mouth, she sauntered over to her friend, smiling conspiratorially at the bag in her hand.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Belle chuckled. "Of course it is."

"Did the cute girl drop it off again?"

With a blush, Belle thrust the bag forward. "Shut up, Regina."

Regina's eyebrows shot up in a comical gesture. "Ooh! Someone is awfully sensitive! Do tell. Have you given her your number yet?"

"You're insufferable."

"Am not," Regina replied with a mouthful of croissant. "Please, Belle. Marry that woman. Her family makes the best pastries in the North End."

Belle let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "I don't even know her name, and for all I know, she isn't even interested in women."

Manicured fingers beat against a uniformed chest. "Belle- Oh shit, that hurt. Are you kidding me?" Regina coughed again into a napkin and breathed in with difficulty.

"I'm not like you. I can't just reel in women with those bedroom eyes and a body that doesn't quit. I work, go home, read a fucking encyclopedia of stupid facts, and then pass out."

"Don't forget a week UberEats order from the best pastry place-"

"In the North End," Belle finished, "Yes, I know. I'm making a habit of it and it's pathetic."

Regina frowned, tilting her head to the side to regard her friend. "It's not pathetic. You're lonely."

Belle gave her a stern look. "Lonely. That's a joke if I ever did hear one. I haven't been laid in so long that I'm pretty confident that my hymen has not only reformed, but created a goddamn chastity belt around my crotch that deflects any and all potential female interaction."

A louder, more realistic choking sound filled the triage tent and several of their coworkers stopped what they were doing to see what was causing the distraction.

"Damn drama queen," Belle muttered, patting her friend's back.

"You can't-" Regina wheezed, powdered sugar coating her lips, "Just say shit like that without warning!"

"Well, excuse me."

Regina straightened her figure, hastily wiping her face clean of the sugary remnants and shot a deadly glare around the room.

"Exactly what the hell are all of you staring at?" She boomed.

When one of the newest recruits to the team followed suit with the team and accidentally tripped over a medical bag, Belle snorted a laugh.

"Well done, Your Majesty."

Regina turned and straightened her uniform. "Yes, well, moving along. Fact of the matter is you need to ask this woman on a date. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"Regina-" Belle cautioned.

"No," Regina stopped her, hand waving dismissively through the air. "When we get off shift today, you are going to get in the closest Uber and ask out the hot pastry chick."

"I hate you."

Regina grinned and swung an arm around her shoulders. "That is a bold face lie, French."

"You're so lucky we're in public, or else I'd deck you right now."

"No need to be rude, Dear. I'm only trying to rectify a problem you won't touch with a ten-foot pole."

"Oh, I'll rectify something with a ten-foot pole alright…" Belle murmured, shrugging off the other woman and walked over to their coworker that was still on the floor.

Pleased with herself, Regina strolled to the tent's opening and stretched in the early afternoon sunlight, smiling as more runners made their way past the finish line. It really was her favorite day of the year, aside from Halloween, of course. She glanced down at her watch. 2:45 PM. Their 12-hour shift was nearly finished, and she was starting to the get end-of-shift jitters.

"Hey, Belle!" She called over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Came a yell.

"Are you going to be okay if I take a walk around the finish line to stretch my legs?"

"Go for it, grandma!"

Regina flipped her friend the bird and exited the triage tent into the bright light. She had only come within a few feet of the sound booth before an explosion rocked the ground and the air around her. Everything went still and silent as a winter's night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Emma's perspective:**

 **6:23 AM, April 13** **th** **, 2013**

"Nice clown suit, Detective Dumbass!"

Emma not so inwardly groaned as the voice rang out several yards behind her. It took everything in her to not hurl her steaming to-go cup when she turned to see the smug looks on her fellow officer's faces.

"Lovely morning isn't it boys?" Emma chirped through tight lips.

The four men regarded her with playful smiles, the one on the far left took a drag from his cigarette and offered his open pack to her.

"You look like you could use one, Swan." The man's voice was gruff, thick with a Southie accent.

Emma shrugged with a grin and took a cigarette out of the pack, lighting it with the man's cheap Bic lighter. She took a deep drag of menthol and exhaled slowly, tasting the mixture of mint and black coffee intermingle.

"You know, Lucas is trying to get me to quit. She'd staple your balls to Mass Ave if she saw you out here enabling my terrible habit," Emma joked, sipping her drink.

The other man barked out a laugh. "I'm not friggin' scared of her," He tilted his head to the side in contemplation, "Maybe I should be though. Is it true she made detective?"

Emma stifled a yawn with the back of her arm. "That'd be correct. I'm proud of the kid. She earned it."

"I heard she went all Samurai Jack on the bang and pain asshole from the other week." One of the other men chimed in.

"I can't decide if I should be scared of her or if I want to marry her," The man off to Emma's right mused.

They all shared a laugh and Emma took another drag off the cigarette.

"Scarlet, you're a twat if you think she'd look even an inch in your direction," The gruff voice chortled.

Emma raised a brow. "And, what? You think you have a chance, Cassidy?"

"Perhaps. You never know, maybe she digs the luck of the Irish," Officer Cassidy winked at her.

"Or, perhaps, she'll sink your battleship before you come to port."

"Come on, man. Why you gotta such a dick, Scarlet?"

"If you got it…"

Emma held up the hand holding the cigarette. "Alright, and that is exactly where this conversation fucking ends," She nodded to the middle man in the group, "How's the family, Hood?"

The stocky man's face was kind. "They're doing really well. Roland starts school in the fall and Marian is settling into her second trimester."

"Jesus Christ, Hood," Cassidy exclaimed, "She's still fuckin' pregnant? It's been, what, four scores and a hundred fortnights?"

Officer Scarlet shook his head in annoyance. "That's not how that shit works."

"We had a bit of a scare last month, but she seems to be doing better. But, just in case, we're keeping her off her feet until the baby arrives. Roland is so excited to be a big brother."

With a nod, Emma dropped the cigarette and stomped it out. "I'm wicked happy for you, man. It's nice to see one of our own actually holding down that white picket fence dream."

Officer Hood met her gaze with sad eyes. "You'll have it one day, Emma."

Emma waved her coffee cup through the air in a dismissive gesture and inhaled the crisp morning air.

"I doubt it, but that's okay. I've always been more of a loner. Plus, can't really expect a sane woman to want to settle down with a homicide detective that's married to the job. It is what it is."

That was the end of the group's conversation and the other officers soon found other things to occupy their attention while Emma remained at her assigned station. It wasn't the first time that this conversation had come up, nor would it be the last, but nevertheless it always put her in a murky funk of what-could-be thoughts. Realistically, she knew Hood was probably right. After all, he was living the life she aspired to one day have. The main issue lay with Emma's approach itself, or, truly a lack thereof. She worked long hours, holidays, and most weekends. When she managed to have time off, she spent it working with kids that were stuck in the foster system. It was a type of big brother, big sister program where law enforcement officers mentored children, taught them self-defense techniques, sometimes helped them with school work, or just took them out for an ice cream every once and a while.

The program was near and dear to Emma's heart because of her own brief experience with the system. After her grandparents had passed away, she was put in group homes for almost two years before the neighbor she had run into eventually was able to properly adopt her. Unbeknownst to Emma, the woman whose backyard she'd run into was married to August Booth, her now boss. Lily was a kind woman and would've been mistaken for a saint, had it not been for her quick wit and sharp tongue. When the police officers had eventually found Emma that night, it was Lily who'd sheltered the sobbing child behind her unwavering figure with more than a few choice words and calculated threats. Thankfully, August had been at home that evening and worriedly emerged from the garage when he'd heard his wife's voice escalating outside. It was a long process with a great deal of red tape, but after an exhausting 18 months, they had adopted Emma into their previously childless family. The adjustment period was almost as long and difficult as the adoption with countless counseling appointments, art therapy sessions, and trust-building exercises. In the end, Lily and August had never given up trying and Emma was able to form a bond that was immeasurable in words or expression.

As Emma got older, she began to solidify the line of work in which she wanted to flourish in. Neither Lily nor August was surprised when she'd told them she wanted to go into the police force to serve the community. What did surprise them was her request to be emancipated at 16 years old. Emma had thought long and hard about the choice and explained as lovingly as she could that it wasn't because they'd done something wrong, she just wanted to have an unbiased chance at succeeding without her father's rank influencing it. The Booths couldn't have been prouder of their daughter and supported her in every way they could. Emma did ride-a-longs with some of her father's coworkers as an "in" into the police department and slowly upgraded to essentially a paid intern. Every week she maxed out the allowed 48 hours for working minors, doing clerical work during the week after school and longer shifts being mentored by officers on the weekends. It didn't even feel like work to Emma. The service call had bitten her hard and she'd fallen head over heels with the profession. Six months after her 16th birthday, a judge handed her back the case file and request for emancipation with an approval stamp. She worked hard for the next year and a half working at the station and trudged through high school with exceptional marks until something unexpected happened.

Several months before Emma had graduated high school, she was approached at the station by a military recruiter from the United States Army. It was almost as though the recruiter had a sixth sense for spotting the perfect combination of desperation, dedication, and sense of duty. A mere month after she graduated from high school, she was hugging her parents goodbye to go to basic training and the rest was history. Emma Swan performed admirably in the years to come, passing each and every test or challenge that her commanding officers threw at her. The 8 years that were spent in the Army gave her a versatile set of skills that she hadn't possessed prior. When she'd been faced with the option to enlist a third time for another 4 years, she'd politely declined and entered the process of applying to the Boston Police Department and a few alternatives, just in case. It took a great deal of paperwork and phone tag with her transition assistance officer, but within 2 months of separation, she received the confirmation that not only had her application been processed but she was being offered a position with BPD. From there, it took Emma a short year to go from officer to detective, where she maintained her military rank of Sergeant.

 **2:39 PM Finish Line**

Emma watched another triumphant and exhausted runner cross the finish line, immediately making a beeline for the medical tent off to her right. She smiled behind the dark aviators and briefly took that constricting hat she'd been wearing all day off to wipe the sweat from her brow. It would've been different had she been walking around more, but with so many of her fellow officers in close proximity to her, there wasn't a need for her to venture too far from her station to patrol.

The crowd had been extremely well-mannered throughout the day, with the only exception being an older Irishman trying to leave one of the local restaurants with his shot of Jameson. Emma had watched in muted amusement when she saw Jones, a fellow Irishman, field the slightly inebriated man and guide him carefully back to the confines of the pop-up beer garden. The tipsy man had looked as though he might fight the officer, but his demeanor shifted as Jones began speaking to him with a thick accent. It took everything Emma had to not double over in laughter when Jones found himself on the business end of a sloppy kiss on the cheek, perhaps a little inappropriate, from the senior citizen. When he'd returned to his station near the sound booth, Jones looked at her in a combination of disgust and sheer comical terror. That time she did laugh and didn't care who saw her do so.

A high-pitch shriek brought her attention back to the crowd from the memory. Her sights zeroed in on a little boy, likely no older than 9 years old, screaming in delight as he received high-five after high-five from the finishing runners. There was something so pure about it that Emma felt her chest warmly swell and emotion found its way to her eyes where moisture clouded her vision momentarily. Blinking rapidly, she cleared her throat and nodded curtly with a grin as she made eye contact with the young boy. He waved wildly at her with the hand not holding onto the guardrail. As her arm began the slow ascent to return the gesture, the immediate area where the boy had been standing filled with smoke, shrouding the space between them darkly. It took the sound a few more seconds to process through Emma's senses before she could realize what had just happened. Screams filled the murky air and cries could be heard from every direction. She opened her eyes and searched the area, hand instinctively reaching for her pistol. The smoke. The screaming. _Where did the kid go?_ Officers scattering from their positions. _Why is everything red?_ The smoke dissipated, and the screaming intensified. _Bodies. Where did they all come from?_ The fog cleared from Emma's mind and her attention focused sharply. Another explosion boomed in the distance. _Bombs._ She stood and began to run at the angled guardrails where her fellow officers were pulling at the mangled metal.

"Definitely devices here. I need officers; definitely devices here!" Emma yelled into her shoulder radio.

The radio crackled with similar reports from other officers as she tugged at the guard rail, successfully pulling one end free from the sidewalk. A couple laid lifelessly on the other side, eyes closed with their pinky fingers hooked together in a makeshift hold.

"Units, stay off the air. Units, stay off the air, just make your way over there. I only want to hear from the 984. I only want to hear from that supervisor."

Emma ignored dispatch's warning over the radio and vaulted over a piece of bent metal fencing to reach the closest downed body.

"Delta 984. Give me a clearance," the radio was cut by a car siren, "to what I need. I need as many," another siren rang out, "I want Ring Road cleared indoors and in and out," the voice faded amongst the background, "Unit 84, take control of the fire coming in. I need lanes open here."

Her booted feet landed on the slick ground with an ankle-twisting slide, nearly causing her fall on the smaller figure lying motionless in front of her. Falling harshly to her knees, she pressed hurried fingers to their throat and felt for a pulse. To her relief, it was fast, and the person was very much alive. She quickly examined the person's, who was now staring up at her with wide, frightened eyes, and couldn't find any immediate or obvious injuries. A tight-lined smile formed, and she caressed the young woman's face.

"Can you move any of your extremities?"

The young woman grimaced painfully, but was otherwise ambulatory, rotated her ankles and slowly rose up from the ground to stand. Emma nodded at the woman and turned her attention to the scene around her. Green eyes locked onto another lifeless body strewn about in a puddle of menacingly bright blood.

"No," Emma yelled, running at full tilt to close the seemingly impossible expanse of sticky congealing liquid and gravel.

She ripped off her yellow safety vest and crashed to the ground, barely noticing the popping of her joints or jolts of pain throughout her shins as they made an impact with the sidewalk. Watery auburn eyes fluttered beneath her as the small child's body combatted the trauma that littered the cracked pavement underneath him.

"Stay awake, kid," Emma pleaded, taking in the full view of the little boy's ruined lower half. Two small, gnarled stumps of shattered bone and torn flesh were all that was left of his legs. "Dear god," She whispered low, hoping he couldn't hear her upset over the sirens.

Without warning, the detective wrenched one of his mangled limbs up and thrust the vest under it, then tied it as tightly as she could. The boy's vocal chords strained as a blood-curdling wail filled her ears and a new stream of sticky crimson saturated what was left of his pants.

"I know, baby. I know, and I'm so sorry."

Her words splintered past her lips, tears burned at her cracked lips as she tied a strong knot at the top of his knee. The little boy wept openly, but the wails quickly lost their fervor when the shock started settling in. Emma's stomach sank when she saw his eyelids slide closed and she reached up to his face with a bloodied hand.

"Hey! There you go, stay with me. Tell me your name, baby." She cooed and struggled to remove the belt from her waist. "Don't fall asleep on me. Talk to me, kiddo."

"I- I'm," Began the croaked response.

Emma nodded encouragingly, removing her hand from his face and tearing the belt off with both hands.

"Good job, buddy. Keep talking."

"I'm- I'm Henry." His eyes closed after another breath.

She'd just gotten the belt wrapped around his other thigh when she felt another's presence drop down to her left. The scent of coffee, salty sweat, and sweet perfume permeated Emma's nose.

"Red or black?" The voice asked in a commanding voice.

"Red," Emma responded without looking and tightened the belt to the best of her ability.

"You can go, I'll take over."

Emma's nostrils flared in protective fury and she whipped her head to face the voice, stray tendrils of blonde sticking to her reddened face. Her body moving protectively to hover over her charge's.

"I'm not fucking leaving him." She growled, holding the cinched belt with her left hand.

Bloodshot brown eyes connected with hers and Emma lifted the unmoving boy into her arm, blood soon soaking through her shirt and pants. Together, the pair ran toward one of the ambulances on standby for the victims and they climbed inside.

The next few minutes to follow became a blur for Emma and it wasn't until she felt a swift kick to her shin that she was brought back to reality.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" Emma asked, blinking the confusion away.

"Does he have a name?" The voice was all business, ice cold.

Emma swallowed hard. "Henry. His name is Henry."

"Are you his mother?"

"N-No," She stammered, leaning forward to brush the hair from the boy's sticky forehead. "I was on duty at the finish line when the bomb went off and he was the second person I was able to get to."

The inside of the ambulance went uncomfortable silent in between the beeps coming from the nearby monitor. None of this felt real to Emma. One minute she was watching exhausted, but happy, people finish the marathon and the next all she could see or hear was blown-off limbs and piercing sound of sirens.

"Got a name?" The voice was softer this time, jagged ice melting at the edges.

"Sergeant Emma Swan, Boston Homicide."

The response was well-rehearsed, though rarely use because everyone in her department knew her rank, though they rarely had any reason to use it. Emma cracked her neck and took a deep breath as her eyes slowly rose to look at the other person. She was met with a bloody-cheeked, red-eyed, soft-featured brilliance of a woman whose gloved hands were moving around the boy's bared torso to examine for further injury.

"You have a name too?" Emma inquired, tilting her head to the side to watch the woman.

"Regina Mills and I'm the EMT who's going to kick you in the teeth if this child dies."

 **Regina's perspective:**

 **2:49 PM**

The explosion sent a shockwave black smoke through the air and Regina crashed sideways into the surrounding rail of the sound booth. Gravel and small bits of metal sprayed into her face and she coughed violently against the thick cloud. Behind her, a familiar voice called shrilly out to her, but when she turned to face it, she couldn't quite make out the words being yelled.

"Belle, what-"

There was a faint ringing in her ear and she lifted shaky fingers to her ears. They came away with a small amount of blood, her right eardrum had ruptured. She tried to pull herself away from the railing and a painful wince crossed her face as she straightened to full length. Suddenly, a body made an impact with her and she gasped soundlessly in agony.

"Regina are you okay?" Belle yelled over the chaos, running her hands over her friend.

"Belle!" Regina yelped as she felt the fingers press into the tender flesh above her hip.

"Sorry, sorry!" The other woman apologized, looking up at her with concern. "Are you hurt anywhere else? It feels like soft tissue damage, but you'll be okay."

Regina just looked at her friend with confusion. Why had she fallen against the rail? Why were people screaming around her? Realization slammed into her when she saw her fellow EMTs barrel out of the medical tent with purpose.

"Belle, it's show time."

Her friend regarded her with worry and pulled Regina into a tight hug while she whispered a quick message.

"Nothing but the rain."

Regina hugged Belle back hard and placed a brief kiss to the side of her head before sprinting toward the guardrail lined sidewalk covered in blood and gore.

"Jesus Christ," She breathed out, stopping just short of the nearest rail. "Hey, you!" Regina called out to the serviceman in Army greens. The young man turned attentively toward her. "Give a girl a boost, would you?"

Regina pointed to the partially downed rail and looked expectedly at him. He looked between her and the rail with raised brows, not entirely confident with what she was asking him to do.

"Toss me!" She yelled in a pointed tone, stabbing her finger into the air again.

He nodded and held his hands, lacing his fingers together to allow her to step into them. She grabbed his right shoulder with one hand and gripped the rail with the other, gaining her balance.

"Do it!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she sprung over the railing and onto the debris-covered sidewalk, thankfully landing on her feet with only minimal shock to her legs. Regina looked around the carnage that surrounded her. A burnt, detached foot lay a couple yards away from her, caught underneath a long-forgotten purse, a grotesque contrast of torn blackened flesh crusted in dirty blood and shrapnel. In front of her, a man was bent over a woman, speaking softly into her ear as he held a tightened belt around her severed leg. A blur of yellow came into her peripheral vision and she waved down the officer to the young woman on the ground.

"Immediate red!"

The officer acknowledged her and called for another officer who was running by with a wheelchair. He made a fast detour and both of them helped Regina, who'd quickly donned green gloves, load the semi-conscious woman in the wheelchair to be taken to the nearest ambulance. She didn't spare a second to stare after them and quickly made her way to the next nearest victim. The crowd of victims and assisting civilians took her back. Regina, of course, had been trained to treat trauma like this, in theory. But, in practice, this is vastly more overwhelming than the textbooks had ever made it seem. To her surprise, the civilians helping to staunch the open wounds with makeshift tourniquets were relatively calm, as though they'd been doing this for years. Yesterday they may have all been strangers, but today, they'd never be able to go back to that. She dropped down beside a couple who'd managed to link their pinkies together despite the constant movement around them, neither was conscious.

"Ma'am, can you hear me?" Regina slid back the woman's eyelids, flashing a penlight into her eyes.

The woman groaned and stirred slightly, a sharp yelp of pain emitting from her lips. A bright stain of red slowly stained the tank top she'd been wearing.

"You've been hurt, I need you to stay down," Regina commanded, unceremoniously tugging the flimsy fabric upward.

She inwardly cringed, taking in the short but wide gash in the woman's side. Every time the woman breathed the wound expanded and more blood spilled down the pale skin.

"Stay still, okay? Can you do that for me while I check your boyfriend?"

The woman weakly nodded and let her head fall back to the concrete, breathes coming in ragged pulls. Regina scanned the immediate area and reached for the purse she'd seen earlier, pushing past the acidic taste of bile in the back of her throat as her fingers grazed the severed foot. She ripped the strap from both ends of the purse and secured it over the torso wound, praying the damage wasn't as bad as it looked. If it was, then the woman wasn't going to last long enough to get into an ambulance. A feeble cry came from the woman as Regina tightened the purse over the opening and knotted it.

"You're going to be okay."

It was a phrase she'd become accustomed to using among her elderly and child patients over the years, but this was the first time she felt like she was truly lying to her patient. Climbing carefully over the woman's torso, Regina quickly assessed the man next to her. Strong pulse and unconscious, but still breathing well. Unfortunately, she'd found the likely owner of the nearby severed foot, as this man was missing the one on his left. Her hands made quick work of his belt and applied it to his lower leg, praying that they'd be able to salvage it. A rush of EMTs met her on both sides as she'd finished tightening it and she stood to get out of their way, watching them load the pair onto gurneys. A firefighter ran alongside them, a bleeding woman with a scarf tied around her ankle in his arms.

"Mills!"

Regina frowned and turned in the direction of the voice, following a coworker's wild pointing to a hatless, blonde officer crouched above a child. Her chest constricted, and her legs moved on their own volition. Within seconds she was on her knees opposite of the officer.

"Red or black?" She barked out, feeling for the boy's pulse.

"Red."

Regina swallowed hard, forcing tears back. "You can go, I'll take over."

Her eyes met shockingly bright green eyes, rimmed with rage and tears. The other woman all but blocked Regina's access to the boy, fiercely trying to enclose him from the horrors.

"I'm not fucking leaving him." She growled at Regina, eyes narrowing.

Without warning, the officer scooped the young boy into her arms and, before Regina could think about what she was doing, she led them to the closest available ambulance and helped the other woman load him onto the gurney. Regina spent the next couple of minutes examining the boy and trying to rouse him into consciousness without luck. She decided to try a different approach.

"What is his name?"

The other woman stared dreamily off into a void Regina couldn't see.

"Officer," Regina bit out, perhaps a little ruder than she had intended.

Finally, the other woman snapped out of her fugue state, shaking her head a couple of times before responding.

"Sorry, were you saying something?"

"Does he have a name?" Regina asked, growing annoyed.

"Henry. His name is Henry."

 _Such a sweet name for such an unfortunate little boy. "_ Are you his mother?"

"N-No," The officer stammered out.

Regina watched curiously as the supposedly non-parental figure of the boy lovingly brushed bloodied hair from his eyes and forehead. The sight tugged at a distant part of Regina's heart that she couldn't describe, and she went back to examining the boy.

"I was on duty at the finish line when the bomb went off and he was the second person I was able to get to."

"Got a name?" Regina asked, a little kindlier.

"Sergeant Emma Swan, Boston Homicide."

She heard the sound of bones cracking across from her and felt eyes watching her closely.

"You have a name too?"

Regina stilled her hands in the middle of the boy's torso and slowly raised only her eyes to meet the other woman, one dangerous eyebrow popping upward.

"Regina Mills and I'm the EMT who's going to kick you in the teeth if this child dies."

In her years of working in EMS, there were only two things that had really gotten to Regina. Pediatric calls and transporting terminal patients to and from the hospitals. Children with barely more bearable because at least the kids could be distracted from their illness most of the time, unless it was really bad or an abuse case. Terminal patients, though, those were the ones that left her with long-lasting thoughts of her own mortality. Kids could almost certainly bounce back from what life threw at them, but the same couldn't be said of the patients who knew what was coming and had decided that it was better to go out on their own terms than let the doctors prolong the inevitable. Up until today, she thought she'd seen everything and didn't have room for new nightmares. That was until she had Henry and Detective Swan in her ambulance, one damn near bleeding out on her rack and the other seemingly unaware of the damage she could've caused.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked, anger surfacing.

"Lower your voice, Miss Swan," Regina warned, voice alarmingly low and serious.

"Miss Swan? Lady, I don't know who you think you-"

The penetrating stare Regina gave Emma could've sliced through titanium like butter.

"I suggest you hold back whatever uneducated retort you had planned and get over here to help me stabilize what you've done."

Emma gaped at the fiery woman, but moved from her seat to sit next to her, teeth sinking into the inside of her cheeks quietly.

"Good, you take commands well enough," Regina commented, ignoring Emma's incredulous look, "Grab me a pack of gauze, the big one."

Emma quickly searched through the cabinet built into the ambulance interior and pulled out two large trauma dressings to hand to Regina.

"How many do you need?"

Regina glanced at the back of the ambulance and made a hurrying gesture at her.

"Unwrap those, hand me one and use the other for his right leg. We're almost to Children's."

Without another word, Emma ripped open the dressing and handed one to Regina, pressing hers to Henry's right leg. The small boy jerked in reaction to the added pressure on his wounds. Emma held the dressing with her left hand and reached up to grab his tiny hand in her right.

"I'm right here, buddy. Squeeze as hard as you can when it hurt, okay? Can you do that for me?" Emma cooed, voice small and filled with emotion.

Henry responded with a loud wailing sob as the ambulance hit a pothole in the road. Both Emma and Regina cursed under their breath, sharing the mutual hatred of Boston's many ruts in the roads.

"Would it kill them to fill the damn hole?" Emma muttered, gritting her teeth together as the ambulance rocked into another.

"Clearly above their intelligence and pay grade," Regina snorted a humorless laugh.

The ambulance pulled up to the emergency department of Children's Hospital and once parked, the back doors flew open and they were met with a trauma team of doctors and nurses. Neither Regina nor Emma was able to give many details beyond basic injury information before they were wheeling Henry away to emergency surgery. Once the ambulance bay had cleared of personnel, Regina spun on Emma, face contorted in the rage from earlier.

"Woah, scary face. What the fuck is that look for? Rabies much?" Emma back up defensively, only to be followed by an extremely pissed off, blood-soaked EMT.

"Do you have any," Regina stabbed a finger against Emma's sternum, "idea as to how much damage you could've done by picking him up?"

Emma continued to back up until she was flush against the rear ambulance doors.

"Look, lady-"

"My name is Regina Mills!" Another hard poke to the chest, this time Emma felt a fingernail stab into flesh.

"Lady!"

Regina balled her fists, standing so close to Emma that she could smell the sick, coppery waft over the once applied perfume. Emma held her hands up in surrender, worried how close she was to getting her ass kicked.

"I mean, Regina," She corrected herself, taking a deep breath, "Can we talk about this like adults?"

If Emma had to describe the look she was getting, it would be somewhere between sheer disgust and barely contained animalistic violence.

"Let me ask you something, Miss Swan," Regina began, not leaving any room for Emma to respond, "In what world does a trained officer of the law pick up a child that potentially has trauma to the spinal column after having his legs blown off?"

The question was rhetorical. Logically, Emma knew that and somewhere in the back of her mind, her higher reasoning knew she shouldn't have opened her mouth. Unfortunately for her, her mouth beat her brain to the punch.

"Listen here, short shit."

Regina's mouth dropped open in rabid indignation.

"In my experience, it's no man left behind, and you get them off the fucking battlefield first, then worry about the other shit later."

Emma hadn't realized she'd been yelling until one of the hospital's security guards leaned out of his seat to stare at them from inside the emergency department. Without much effort, Emma pulled her shield from inside her shirt and flashed it to him. He let out an exasperated breath and sat back in his seat, leaving the two to their own devices once again.

"Look-" Emma turned to face Regina again, trying to salvage the conversation.

Strong arms shoved her hard against the ambulance and her head smacked against the double doors.

"No, you look," Regina was impressively close to breathing fire.

"You just assaulted an-" Emma cried out, only to be shoved again.

"You could've killed that child! One accidental movement of the legs or spine and that could've been it. The end."

Regina tried shoving Emma a third time, but the attempt lacked much of the force of the first two times. Instead, Regina kept her hands balled up in Emma's bloody shirt underneath the jacket. It took Emma a moment to realize the other woman's body had developed a tremor.

"Regina?"

All Emma could see was loose, frizzy curls sway back and forth as the body they were attached was starting to increasingly shake.

"So much blood," Her voice was barely audible.

"Regina, I can't hear you. What did you say?" Emma coaxed, leaning her head to the side to see her face.

"He didn't-"

"I'm really sorry, but I can't he-"

"He didn't have any legs left! They blew them off!" Regina screamed, her own extremities losing their ability to hold her up anymore.

Emma instinctively caught her, catching her around the hips and held the limp woman closely against her. Carefully, she lowered them to the ground and scooped Regina into her arms, leaning uncomfortably against the ambulance's tailgate.

"He had no legs," Regina moaned sorrowfully into Emma's neck, squeezing a stained red hand into the shirt's material.

Emma closed her eyes, dropping her head against the door. "I know, I know."

"He's just a baby. Who would do this?"

"I don't know," Emma whispered, defeated.

"He was just a baby," Regina's voice trailed off, choking up at the end as she assumed the worst possible outcome for the small boy. Her continuing sobs were muffled by the officer's thick jacket.

Emma's arms flexed around the stranger, wishing she could siphon the pain from her, but wasn't sure where she would store it if it were even possible. This wasn't a walk in the park for her either. This was the city she'd be raised in. Boston was her home. Someone had planted bombs in her home and this was only the beginning. The last thing Emma saw before losing consciousness was a blanket of bloody blue and a startled scream fading into the distance.

"Miss Swan!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, I know, Belle."

Emma's fingers twitched against the rough blanket material.

"I said, I know. I couldn't just leave her!"

Heavy lids flickered in an attempt to open.

"I was her first responder. Tell Gold I'll assist the E.D. with triage for the remainder of the shift and we'll go from there, okay?"

 _That voice._

"R- Gi-" The words came out as a whisper.

"I don't give a damn what he says!"

 _Why won't my damn eyes open?_

"To hell with this. Put him on the phone, Belle. Do not argue, do it."

Emma's face creased in pain and her laugh caught in her throat.

"Hello, sir. I will be staying stationed here to assist in triage and recovery. Yes, I understand. Excuse me?"

Blonde hair floated across her face as she rolled her head to the side, eyes cracked enough to peer at the stout woman seated next to her.

"You'd do well to remember whose father is the mayor of this city, Gold. Do not make me play that card. I will stay here assist where needed and oversee my charges. That's what I thought. Goodbye."

Regina ended the call and threw her phone onto her med bag, reclining back in the uncomfortable hospital-issue chair. She'd just closed her eyes when she felt something brush her upper thigh and she shot upright in a panic. A lopsided grin amidst tangled curls looked up at her, the finger that had touched her curled in a silent greeting.

"Hello, Miss Swan."

Emma tried raising her other hand to wipe the hair from her face and it fell uselessly back to her side.

"Why me arm thingy no move?" She slurred, and her frown resembled an exaggerated pout.

Regina bit her lower lip and chuckled behind a hand.

"I see the drugs are performing quite well." She mused, tracking the movement of Emma's hand as it slowly slid the blanket to one side.

"Are you my nurse?" Emma questioned with a squint, still trying to get her limbs to function the way she wished.

"I think not," Regina replied, carefully placing Emma's arm with the IV back on the bed.

The detective pouted deeply. "That's dumb."

Regina couldn't help herself and scooted the chair closer to the bed. The goofy officer was beginning to grow on her. She gave the other woman a kind smile and gently tucked the messy hair back.

"Better?"

Emma scrunched her face up in a smile. "Yes, ma'am!"

Tanned cheeks flushed red. "Good."

"You're blushing," Emma pointed out, bringing a bold and shaky hand up to trace Regina's right cheek.

Only, Emma had missed the cheek entirely and her thumb rested hotly on the other woman's cracked lower lip. Too engrossed with the split flesh, Emma didn't notice the hitch in Regina's breath or the nails that dug into the hospital bed.

"Mith Thwan-" Regina breathed around the finger.

"Emma," The detective corrected, tracing her finger along the top lip.

Regina swallowed hard and closed her eyes, hoping like hell it would help center herself. She was wrong. All she could feel was Emma's caressing finger explore her lips and the sear of heat traveling up her thighs. _I should stop this._

"Emma-"

"Wow," Emma cut her off, a whisper of adoration coming from her own lips.

She felt her stomach drop with the word and Regina reigned in as much composure as she could.

"What?"

Emma gingerly wiped a bit of dried blood from the side of Regina's nose and cupped her face, a thumb resting endearingly on the scar that delved into the upper lip.

"You're exquisite."

Every muscle in Regina's body flooded with warmth, every nerve feeling raw to the touch. She didn't have time to prepare herself for the hospital door opening abruptly.

"Knock, knock! How are we feeling Detective?"

Regina slapped Emma's hand to the bed and pushed herself back rapidly, hoping the loose hair from her bun covered the reddened flesh of her face.

"I apologize. Should I come back later?" The doctor asked, a smug smile plastered across her face.

Regina cleared her throat, staring intently at her clasped hands. "No, that's alr-"

"Doc!" Emma yelled excitedly.

Regina blanched and turned to face the doctor fully, instantly confused when she saw they clearly knew each other.

The doctor closed the door and crossed the room to sit on Emma's bed, shoving the injured woman's legs to the side.

"Ow! That hurt!"

The doctor shrugged. "That'll teach you to not end up in my hospital twice in one damn month, now won't it?"

"Twice?" Regina gaped, looking confused between the two.

"I got shot," Emma beamed, as though somehow proud of that fact.

The doctor openly laughed at Regina's horrified expression and extended a hand to the other woman.

"I'm Doctor Nolan, but you can call me Kathryn."

"She's our squad's doc!" Emma squealed, much louder than necessary.

The other two women winced at the outburst and shared a look.

"My husband works in the same department as dumbass over here," Kathryn ignored Emma's tongue that stuck out in her direction, "Whenever one of them gets hurt, they usually get sent here. Partly because it's convenient and partly because anyone with a brain wouldn't dare get on my bad side. Heaven forbid if they end up at Boston Medical."

Regina chuckled and shrugged. "You have a fair point. That place will be ground zero for the next Ebola outbreak."

"You guys are gross," Emma complained, inconspicuously sliding her hands under the covers.

In a flash, Emma ripped the blanket upward and exposed her lower half. It was far too late for Regina to avert her eyes from the creamy expanse in front of her by the time Kathryn had pulled the covers back down.

"I don't have pants on!" Emma cried out, not in the least embarrassed.

"We can see that Dear," Regina said dryly, licking her cracked lips.

"Didya see my tattoo?" Emma teased, her left hand sloppily landing on Regina's thigh.

Kathryn chuckled and shook her head, eyes sparkling with humor.

"Ever the charmer, this one. Would you be the girlfriend?"

Regina's eyes went wide, and she flung Emma's hand away from her, earning a cry of surprise from the detective.

"No!" She cleared her throat and brought her hands up, "No, I am not," This time the voice was less frantic, "I'm the responder who-" Regina stopped. The memory of what they'd been doing snaked through her mind and tears formed in her eyes.

Kathryn, noticing the shift in conversation, stood and moved around to the other side of the bed, then crouched in front of Regina, taking the now shaking hands in hers.

"It's okay, Sweetie," Kathryn squeezed her hands. "You're safe here. Take a deep breath and look at me."

The room unfocused around Regina and words began spilling out on their own accord, monotone and hollow.

"We were at the finish line. The bombs went off and everything got so loud, then so quiet. Then everyone was screaming, and blood was everywhere."

Kathryn caught movement from the corner of her eye, but ignored it as Regina continued talking quietly.

"I treated a couple before finding her," Regina's eyes were glassy, reliving the horror that had only transpired a few hours before. "The woman probably had a tension pneumothorax and her boyfriend was missing a foot. I told them they'd be okay, but I don't even know if they made it to the ambulance."

"That must've been very difficult," Kathryn added gently.

"Then I saw a little boy on the ground," Thick tears dripped steadily down tan cheeks onto their hands, "He didn't have any legs."

Crestfallen, Kathryn bit the inside of her lips and cast Emma, who had been watching them intently, a pained look. Emma nodded somberly, the brunt of the medication had worn off and the pain was becoming more evident as she moved slowly to sit more upright.

"I thought he was dead. He was just lying there, almost completely unresponsive." Regina continued, her whole body taking on an ascending tremor.

"You don't have to keep going," Kathryn looked at Emma, who mouthed her name, "Regina. I know this must be very painful."

"He's never going to be able to feel sand between his toes again," Regina kept going, the images of blown off limbs and shredded bones keeping her in the memory, "His toes won't prune in the bathtub anymore," Regina shook her head, eyes tightly closed. "What if he doesn't survive the surgery? What if he goes septic? What if he's all alone and dies?"

Emma couldn't watch, or listen for that matter, any more and fought past the pain in her side and shoulder to pull Regina by the arm onto the bed with her. She gasped as she felt a familiar tug, then tear in her side as the sobbing figure latched possessively around her. Kathryn shot her a worried look, noticing the small spread of red on the modest hospital gown that had been exposed during the shift. Emma shook her head curtly and wrapped both arms protectively around Regina, careful to not snag her IV. The look Kathryn gave her before exiting the room was on she couldn't decipher, and she didn't have a chance to ask what it was about because the doctor quickly left the room with a phone in her hand.

"I've got you," She whispered against a pierced ear, absently placing a staying kiss just behind the studded jewelry. "You're not alone.

The ragged breathing stuttered and regulated, then stuttered again. The pattern continued for another five or so minutes before Regina's body had gotten used to the added pressure of Emma's arms.

"You smell good," Regina sniffled against Emma's shoulder.

Emma tilted her head toward her. "What do I smell like?"

"Gun oil and sandalwood," She said matter-of-factly.

The detective snorted a laugh. "Thank you, I think?"

Regina nuzzled her nose deeper into the warmth of the curls and inhaled deeply, the scent of the other woman traveling through her overstimulated senses. She wasn't normally this affectionate, especially not with complete strangers. Realizing just how little she knew this woman, Regina tensed and made a move to get up. A hot hand on her lower back stilled her movements.

"Please, don't go."

The voice had been so small and sad that Regina had almost disregarded it. Instead, she lowered herself back onto the detective and allowed the strong arms to envelop her once more and she strained to withhold the groan of pleasure when one arm wrapped around her hips then shoulders. It had been an excruciatingly long time since anyone had ever been allowed to hold her life this and, if she was being honest, she wouldn't mind having this mystery woman do it more often.

"Do you make a habit of doing this?"

"Hm?" Emma murmured, rubbing a thumb along the other woman's side.

Regina shivered and moved her mouth closer to Emma's ear. "Holding women that you barely know. Is this a habit, Miss Swan?"

It was Emma's turn to shiver and she tightened the arm around Regina's hips, feeling more than hearing the gasp from her.

"Only the ones that use old-fashioned perfume," She teased, but somewhere in the back of her head, something nagged at the remembrance of the scent.

"Oh, is that so?" Regina chuckled against her ear, the temptation to catch the unpierced lobe between her teeth itched underneath her skin.

"How are you not dying of heat in that thing?"

A low laughed vibrated against Emma's ear and the air caught in her lungs as the Regina reclined from her torso and stared down at her with dark eyes.

"Are you trying to get me undressed, Miss Swan?" Regina winked at her, fingers already unbuttoning the long sleeve duty shirt.

"I-" Emma gaped, eyes hungrily taking beautifully tanned shoulders and the faintly defined muscles of Regina's arms.

Thankfully, she was interrupted by the weight of Regina's body settling back onto her, and relaxed when her arm was urged back to its previous place around the woman's hips. It was different this time. The tank top Regina was wearing had ridden up a few inches and Emma's hand touched bare skin. She could actually feel the soft outline of breasts against hers and cursed at the fact that she was only wearing boxer briefs under the flimsy hospital gown.

"So, um. Should we talk about this? About today?"

The events of the day blurred together in a mixture of post-drug haze in Emma's mind. Henry's face and missing legs. The scream of sirens. Cracked, bloody fingernails reaching for a loved one. Crimson-soaked uniforms and the crackle of the radio near her good ear.

"I'd prefer if we didn't. Please."

Regina slid to lay on Emma's uninjured side and her hand ghosted past her ribs. She quickly recoiled when she felt the wetness of the gown and bolted up to lean over Emma's chest, ignoring the whimper below her. She pulled at the fabric roughly until most of Emma's left side was exposed, despite her best efforts to brush Regina off.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. Leave it." Emma begged, tugging at the tangled blanket under her leg.

Regina wasn't having any of that and flung the blanket off Emma and the bed. She straddled the woman's legs and held the gown above the torn stitches, just mere inches below Emma's breasts.

"You most certainly are not fine, Emma."

While the EMT examined the wound, Emma couldn't help but try to shift away and bring the blood-stained gown down to cover the wound. Well, partially cover the wound and partially to maintain some of her decency in front of the beautiful woman. As fate or destiny would have it, that didn't happen. Regina grabbed Emma's reaching hands during the last attempt and pinned them above her head, staring down at her with determination even as she winced in pain.

"Miss Swan."

"Still just Emma," Emma groaned. The pain shot up through her ribs like lightning.

"Emma Swan sit still or so help me, you will regret it."

Showing intensive restraint, Emma made herself make eye contact and quirked an eyebrow at the woman tantalizingly above her.

"Perhaps I would be more inclined to sit still if one of my tits wasn't hanging out like one of the stooges."

Regina frowned, not understanding the reference until her eyes cascaded down the woman's chest and a flash of creamy, puckered flesh met her gaze. Apparently, during the struggle, the fabric had still been in Emma's hand when she pinned them above her head. She closed her eyes and released one of Emma's hands to cover herself, embarrassment spreading throughout her face.

"I apologi-"

Emma stopped her with a cupping hand to her face, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Now who's trying to get who without their top?" Emma teased, her thumb wandering alongside Regina's nose.

A shudder ran down Regina's spine and fire churned in her stomach. This woman had the most intoxicating effect on her and she didn't understand it. She wanted to lick up that finger and draw it into her mouth to bite. Instead, she opted for speaking.

"Will you please let me look at it?" _Get hold of yourself, Mills._

"Only if you promise to be gentle."

There wasn't any humor in Emma's voice when she spoke, and Regina saw the vulnerability in her eyes. She nodded and released her hands, then moved to lay on Emma's hips as she examined the stitches.

Emma was well aware of the proximity of Regina to her lower extremities and bit her upper lip anxiously. The EMT looked beyond sexy perched on her half-exposed hips, tenderly feeling around the cut. Hell, even her frown was sexy.

"Diagnosis, doctor?" Emma joked, hoping she could deflect from her obvious arousal.

"You like it hard, don't you?"

Emma's eyes practically bulged. "What?"

Regina used her forearm to brush the hair from her eyes. "I said, you like it the hard way. Don't you?"

Emma let out a deep breath and dropped her head back to the pillow. "Why do you say that?"

Regina poked at the area just above the torn stitches and Emma let out a litany of curses.

"This isn't the first time these stitches have been redone. Care to explain?"

"Yo no se?"

Regina smirked. "Habla Espanol?"

Emma rolled her eyes and groaned. "Seriously?"

Gooseflesh formed on Emma's stomach as Regina lightly touched the area around the stitches and she didn't know what to say to the EMT.

"Perhaps next time aim for a truthful answer. The hard way is far less satisfying outside of the bedroom."

Another flush of heat made its way between Emma's legs and she instinctively clenched them, a motion not lost on Regina, who flicked dark eyes to look into hers.

"Calm yourself, Swan. You're injured."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "You're the one who mounted me like Seabiscuit, lady," She put emphasis on the last syllable, knowing the response it would elicit.

As if on cue, Regina shot forward, now on all fours above Emma and snarling close enough to her face to touch noses together.

"Why must you be so infuriating?"

Emma leaned her head up to speak directly into her ear. "Because it's fun to see you get all worked up."

Regina had been ready to give her a proper verbal scolding, but the door to their room sounded a knock and it gave them a brief second to move into less conspicuous positions. Kathryn re-entered the room and gave them a quizzical look, though dismissed their flushed faces and jumbled bedding with a wave of her hand. In the other hand, she was carrying a small packaged kit.

"Is that a suture kit?" Regina questioned, looking hopefully at the doctor.

Kathryn beamed. "Yes, it is. I noticed earlier that Emma may have torn a stitch earlier and I wanted to correct it before she undoubtedly made it worse."

"Hey!"

"Shut up," The two women ordered in unison.

Emma cowered slightly in the bed and didn't protest when Kathryn mirrored Regina's earlier ministrations with the gown.

"Third time's a charm, I suppose," Kathryn chided, pulling gloves off the wall behind her.

Regina leaned over Emma's legs and looked shyly at the doctor. "May I help?"

Kathryn considered her, amused. "You want to help me stab, detective dumbass? I'd love that. Have you ever used a suture kit before?"

"That's not my name," Emma grumbled.

Regina reached up and silenced Emma with a hand over her mouth, pretending to not notice the smile that formed under her middle finger.

"Only a few times, and mostly only unconscious people."

"Well, I brought some topical to numb the area and as long as Emma consents, I'd be happy to walk you through it."

Regina removed her hand from Emma's mouth, her pinky accidentally catching the tip of the detective's wet tongue as she licked her lips. _Fuck._

"Be gentle," Emma repeated, looking pleadingly at Regina.

"We're not going to gut you, dummy," Kathryn snorted and handed her new assistant a pair of gloves.

As it turns out, Regina was actually quite good at suturing, despite not having much practice. Kathryn was impressed and gave the younger woman her business card, so they could set up a time where Regina could come shadow her at the hospital. The three of them spoke for a little while after all the trash was collected and instruments discarded in the appropriate containers.

"I spoke with both of your bosses and you are not to return to duty until Friday, at the earliest. And, before you ask, yes, your teams are safe and relatively intact."

"What?" Both women cried out.

"Emma, if you want to go against August, then be my guest. But, we both know that won't be too fruitful for you and I really don't want to treat either of you if you have a scuffle. And you," Kathryn turned on Regina, "My sister has been Gold's family doctor for what feels like a century, I can assure you he won't say a peep to you about coming back before you're ready."

"But, I-"

"No," Kathryn cut her off, "You both need some rest and things around the city are not likely to get less stressful. They still haven't caught the fuckers that did this."

The last part of Kathryn's sentence hung heavily in the air and none of them said anything afterward. Eventually, Kathryn left the room and Regina took her place against the uninjured side and felt the arm return around her. It felt natural, the ease and comfort of it, though it shouldn't. Not even 6 hours prior, she didn't know this woman. Yet, everything inside of her said she did, like a comforting wind that surrounds you when you're scared. She felt Emma kicking her legs and opened her eyes to look up.

"Is something the matter?"

"It's too warm," Emma complained, kicking her leg again.

Regina inched herself away. "I can lay in the chair."

Emma rolled quickly to her side and grabbed Regina around the waist, pulling her a little too hard against her. She groaned, then laughed at the surprised look on Regina's face.

"Sorry," Emma tried ducking her head, but only managed to lower her forehead to Regina's, "What I meant to say was I can just kick off these covers."

Regina slid her hand over Emma's hip slowly and grasped the sheet beneath her then threw it to the end of the bed.

"Is that better?"

Emma swallowed. "Uh, yeah. Totally. Yup. All better. Thanks."

With an eye roll, Regina pushed Emma back to the bed and was ready to resume her spot when she saw the flash of pain and stopped moving.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"The topical is just wearing off, it's okay. I'll get used to it."

The movement was fluid and unexpected, to which of them it surprised the most, was unclear. Regina peeled the gown away from the newly bandaged stitches and kissed the space between it and Emma's hipbone. There was no masking the arousal or the moan that rolled its way up Emma's throat and out her parted lips.

"Regina-"

The EMT reached up to her hair and began releasing pins from the braided updo, one by one they fell alongside Emma's leg.

"Did I hurt you?" Regina asked, the final pin dropping to the bed and she shook the curls free.

Emma stared at her, mesmerized by the waterfall of curls falling around Regina's face. She absently wetted her lips, barely able to form words.

"N- No?" It came out as a question rather than a statement.

Regina gave her a smile and bent down again, kissing higher, this time along her rib cage and Emma arched into the contact.

"What about here?"

Emma winced at the tightness of the stitches and lowered her back to the bed, watching the trail of curls ascend her body in awe.

"Not quite."

There was a sharp intake of air and Regina was straddling Emma's hips, careful to not jostle the bandage, and her lips ghosted hotly against the lobe of Emma's ear.

"And here?"

Emma's question died in her throat when teeth sank into the cartilage of her upper ear and a hot, wet tongue traced the small indents.

"Fucking Hell," Emma moaned, grasping Regina's hips hard.

"Hardly Hell, Dear," Regina's sultry voice breathed, enjoying the rough hands digging into hip bones.

"Who are you?"

Emma raked her eyes down the other woman and acted before she thought the idea through, releasing the hips and caressed backward until she held what could only be described as a piece of heaven.

"Someone that greatly appreciates your investigative techniques, Detective." Regina all but purred, rolling her hips against the hands.

"And here I thought you didn't like me."

Regina rolled her hips again, earning a groan from under her. "Does it appear that I do not like you?"

"Fuck."

"How eloquent."

"You love to hear your own voice, don't you?" Emma shot back, nudging the other woman's head to face her.

"Perhaps."

Emma brought a hand up, grabbed her chin and forced Regina to face her, face flush in arousal and brown eyes swimming in black.

"Maybe you should learn to be quiet."

The playful threat held a promise of darker provocations.

"Make me."

Regina licked her lips defiantly, a challenge to Emma's unwavering stare. Unlike before, she didn't roll her hips. She ground them into Emma's and felt the hand cupping her squeeze hard enough to bruise, then passionate lips were on hers. The kiss wasn't soft or sweet to start. They fought for pressure and dominance, tongues tracing lips and teeth biting into tender flesh. Nails scratched down exposed expanses of skin and a voice cried out, quickly stifled with another kiss. As the need for air became more apparent, their pace slowed, melting into long and lingering touches. Legs entangled together with a need to be closer, pale hands filled curls and a possessive hand clutched the front of the hospital gown. They fell asleep like that, holding on to each other as though the mere action tethered them to reality. It was sometime later when they were disturbed from their intimate bubble with Kathryn gently shaking Emma to consciousness.

"I just got off the phone from a friend at Children's. Henry survived the surgery."


	4. Chapter 4

It took Emma several times to shake the sleep from her head. She'd been sleeping peacefully for the first time since before the shooting. The first shake to her shoulder didn't faze her, but after the third they'd gone from gentle to a somewhat hard jostle.

"What?" She mumbled sleepily, cracking one eye open.

"I just got off the phone from a friend at Children's. Henry survived the surgery."

The other eye flew open and Emma almost shot up, remembering only a second before doing so that she wasn't alone in the bed. Though Kathryn's assaults had been only on her, Regina had tightened herself tighter around the detective's chest and, even if she truly wanted to, she wasn't confident she could budge the other woman. Emma strained her head to face Kathryn instead.

"He's okay?"

Kathryn's shoulders sagged and the dark bags under her eyes caught in the moonlight. "Not exactly."

Emma swallowed. "Kat tell me."

"They had to remove more than they thought. There was a lot of damage."

"Did we-" A tear rolled down Emma's cheek, "Did I make things worse?"

Kathryn quietly pulled the chair close to the bed and thumbed away the runaway droplet.

"Honey, no. You did everything you could have done. You both did. Whoever did this knew what they were doing, and the purpose wasn't to kill. It was to mangle."

"Do you think he'll be able to walk again?"

Kathryn inhaled deeply and shrugged. "I don't know. Zee seems to think so, but it could go either way. There are a lot of factors involved and considering…"

The words trailed off and Kathryn couldn't make eye contact with Emma anymore.

"Considering?" Emma drawled, observing the pain in the doctor's expression.

"Considering he doesn't have parents."

This took Emma back. _No parents?_

"He was on a day trip to the marathon with the rest of his group home. They were at one of the restaurants having lunch and he wanted to get closer, so they let him." Kathryn continued, a low whisper.

 _Fuck._

"Everyone else evacuated pretty fast and he accidentally got left behind. I'm not even sure I can blame them, you know?" Kathryn looked up at her, bloodshot eyes, thick with brimming tears, "There's so many kids in the group homes nowadays and no one was prepared for this."

Emma's grip around Regina's shoulders tightened and she felt the woman shift beside her, the leg around hers tensed. She looked down and felt, more than saw, the other woman's tears soak into her hospital gown.

"How long have you been awake?"

Regina sniffled, nudging her face against the gown. "Long enough."

"I'm sorry," Kathryn apologized, head slumping into her hands.

To both of their surprise, Regina reached across Emma and grabbed the doctor's hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

"It's not your fault. Hell came to Earth today." Regina reassured her.

Kathryn nodded, and they all felt the weight of the day's reality fill the dark room. Hell indeed had come to Earth, and the inhabitants of Boston would never forget it.

"Will the state insurance be able to help him?" Emma questioned, not entirely meaning to say the words aloud.

"I don't know," Kathryn admitted. "Based off what I've seen, it'll cover the basics, but even then, it'll be fight after fight to get him the treatment he needs."

"Fucking useless," Emma cursed, rolling her eyes angrily.

"I couldn't agree more," Kathryn nodded, freeing her hand from Regina's and wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her lab coat. "There's talk of something called the One Fund. It's supposed to be a crowd-source fund for the survivors. But, we all know how that goes and who the hell knows if or when they'll see that money."

"May we visit him?"

Startled by the sudden scratchy voice, the two blondes turned to Regina.

"Regina, that might not-"

"He's still in the ICU," Kathryn cut in. "But, if you'd like, I can try to keep up with his progress and update you as much as possible."

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you, Doctor Nolan." Regina nodded despite her disappointment.

"Thank you, Kat," Emma added, giving her friend a nod that said more than she could.

Kathryn reached out and squeezed Emma's shoulder and stood, pushing the chair back with a light squeak.

"I'm going to try and get a couple hours of sleep in the on-call room. Have your nurse page me if you two need anything."

Emma nodded and watched her leave the room, the door closing with a finalizing click.

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"May I ask you something?"

In a fluid motion, the EMT removed the arm around her and slid up into a sitting position to face her, eyes puffy from crying.

"Anything you'd like."

Emma smiled wryly at the disheveled halo of curls. "God, you're beautiful."

Regina blushed and ducked her head. "Miss Swan, that doesn't qualify as a question."

Emma laughed at that. She brushed a hand through the other woman's hair and tucked some behind her ear, revealing a face that bore the semblance of a smile.

"That's not a question, at all. It's a statement. But, I do have a question."

The air felt thick. Everything felt too intimate, too tightly wound and concealed in the small room drenched in moonlight.

"Ask me," Regina whispered, her heart pounding so hard she was sure Emma could feel it against her arm.

"If I asked you to stay with me for the rest of the night, would you?"

Regina ran a hand through long, blonde hair and rested in along Emma's jawline, thumb caressing the puffy skin under her eye with care.

"Only if you promise not to let go."

Emma's eyes closed in relief, and she enclosed her arms around Regina without another word, the action as natural as though she'd never known any other way. The eerily quiet hum of the hospital monitors from outside the room lulled the pair back into a deep sleep after a short while. Meanwhile, outside the hospital walls, the streets of Boston remained a ghostly echo of itself, not a taxi in sight.

Sunlight poured into the room through the cracked curtains of the stuffy hospital room and Regina groaned when the heat finally registered in her system. She moved to flex her legs, only to find them entangled with another's. _Emma's leg._ Her lips slowly formed a lazy smile and, without opening her eyes, she rose slightly off the other woman and made quick work of her boots. Something crusty flaked off of the boot onto her fingertips and she frowned, only then deciding to open her eyes. It was blood. Somehow, she'd forgotten during the chaos and shuffle that blood had gotten on her boots and now it was on her hands as well as the thin sheet covering Emma's still sleeping figure. Horrified, Regina threw the boots to the other side of the room and scrambled out of the bed, frantic to expel any trace of the day before from her body.

 _I'm going to be sick._

Regina ran toward the bathroom, nearly slipping on the polished floor in an urgent rush to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet. It happened fast and hard, the comforting bubble had broken, and everything came flooding back. The bombs. The bodies.

 _Little Henry._

She threw up again, this time more violently and her cheek crashed against the side of the toilet. Later, she would certainly sport a nasty welt from that. Behind her, the bathroom door quietly opened, and a figure walked in.

 _He had no legs._

"Regina?"

Another retch brought bile past her lips and she tipped forward once more, dry heaves and tears following a violent expulsion.

 _He's all alone_

Somewhere behind her, she heard the rattle of something being rolled in her general direction and there was someone behind her, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, let it all out. I'm here."

The voice sounded familiar, but she was too deep in the flashback to understand it.

 _Red pavement. Torn red pants. Red on boots. Red on…_

She reached both hands out to grasp the toilet, anything to anchor herself down and an arm looped itself under her right shoulder then something firm and warm pressed into her back. A second later there was a hand in her hair, holding it back loosely.

"I have you. I'm right here."

There was that rattling sound again. Only this time, a screech followed and a few choice curse words she was all too fond of.

 _Emma._

It was Emma holding her hair and keeping her from falling head first into the toilet. The unorthodox savior yet again.

"This is so embarrassing," Regina groused, resting her head on the toilet seat.

She felt the arm around her shoulder loosen and drop around her stomach, gentle finger rubbed circles just above her navel.

"Happens to the best of us," Emma whispered, doing her best to balance herself on her knee as she remained crouched behind the other woman.

"So far, I've screamed at you, cried in your arms, had a meltdown in front of you, and now you're holding my hair while I vomit. That's quite an array of turbulence for one meeting, Miss Swan," Regina grumbled, spitting the bitter taste out of her mouth and reached up to flush the evidence of sickness away.

Gingerly, Emma reclined to the floor against the wall and tugged a very exhausted Regina between her legs to lay on her chest.

"You sure know how to make a woman feel special," Emma joked, wiping the hair from Regina face and laughed fully when she saw the glare. "You're cute when you get mad."

Regina's narrowed deeper. "I am not. Nor is that how I make anyone feel special, Miss Swan."

"You kissed my stitches and a couple other choice places, Regina. I think you can skip the formalities."

Regina blushed and turned in Emma's arms, anything to keep her from seeing the blatant panic and arousal in her face.

"Oh, you thought I was going to just glaze over that, huh?" Emma questioned, nudging Regina's leg with hers.

"I don't usually-"

"Usually accost complete strangers with your lips?" Emma teased again.

"Shut up."

"Or kiss their boo-boos in a sexy way?"

Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head, a smile threatening to break past her pursed lips.

"Oh, I know! You get in their laps and then-"

Emma's words cut off as fingernails dug into the exposed flesh of her thighs, the hospital gown had ridden up when she sat down. The hand she had around Regina's middle clenched around the modest tank top.

"Tread lightly, Miss Swan."

"If you haven't guessed by now, that isn't exactly my style."

The fingers digging into Emma's legs flexed and she felt thumbs caressing the inside of her thighs.

"What exactly is your style, Detective Swan? Lure emotional women into your bed and take advantage of them?" Regina's voice was low, dangerous and didn't hold an ounce of accusation.

Emma sucked in a shaky breath. "If anyone's doing any luring, I think it's you and those hands."

Regina relaxed her hands and traced the crescent indents with the pads of her fingers, the previous blush turning into a smirk.

"Something the matter, Detective?"

Emma's head hit the wall with a thud. "This should be a felony."

"Are you going to arrest me?"

The hand around Regina's stomach dropped to her hip and squeezed hard as Emma tried to maintain her composure.

"This is how I die," Emma groaned. "Not a bullet wound, not a bombing. You are actually going to make me flatline."

Regina chuckled and massaged into the tense muscle of her thighs.

"If I've learned anything in the last day, it's that you, Emma Swan, will survive just fine."

Emma laughed at that. "EMT and a comedian? I should be so lucky."

Still rubbing, Regina dug the heels of her hands down and began focusing on Emma's knees. When a rather loud, sensual moan vibrated past her ear, she stilled.

"Found the spot, did I?"

Emma's legs fidgeted around her hips and she cleared her throat.

"Uh, yeah, we'll pretend like that didn't happen."

Regina had different thoughts on that. She used a thumb to stroke around Emma's right kneecap, adding pressure near to top, then circled down to drag her thumb up the joint. She was rewarded with another moan, though it was stifled.

"You should really see someone about this. You're quite tense."

 _I'll show you fucking tense,_ Emma thought. Her eyes were beginning to roll back in her head when she heard a knock on the door to the room.

"In the bathroom!' Emma called out and shot an apologetic look at Regina who stared startled back at her.

"Swan, you have some explaining to do!" Came the deep voice, anger laced with worry.

"Who is that?"

"Looks like I don't even get to ask you on a date before you meet my dad." Emma whined, waving a hand to indicate she needed help getting up.

Emma left the bathroom first, leaving Regina to close the door and clean herself up before facing the inevitable questions about her presence. Wheeling the IV stand toward the door, Emma reached for the door and almost caught a face full of door as her father's imposing figure burst inside.

"Dad!" Emma yelped, trying to move to the side before heavy arms wrapped around her.

"Emma Swan you are in such deep shit!"

"Dad, I-"

"We were so worried about you. Kat said they wouldn't let anyone in or out of the hospital all night and we couldn't get you on your cell."

"My cell? I don't even know where-"

"I can't fucking believe I put you at the finish line. I'm so stupid, Emma. Everyone else met up at the command post, but we couldn't find you. I thought I'd lost you."

Her father's voice cracked, and his arms lost their strength, then she heard the telltale sound of crying into her hair. All she could do was stay quiet and let him get out the pent-up terror of the last 18 hours.

"We tried calling and nothing went through. We tried getting you on the radio and you didn't answer. It was like when you were on deployment all over again."

Emma saw from around his figure that Regina had exited the bathroom and stood quietly in the doorway, not wanting to intrude on them.

"Dad, I'm okay. I wasn't even there for that long."

August pulled back from her and finally took in his daughter's state of being. An embarrassed flush rose in his cheeks and he stared up at the ceiling with a watery smile.

"You're kinda naked, kiddo."

Emma burst into laughter and reached behind her to hold the open fabric together.

"Hey, I have underwear on!"

August kept his eyes cast upward and pointed to the bed. "How about you take a seat there, Lily junior."

With a turn, Emma started back toward the bed with the IV stand dragging behind her. She had almost made it when one of the wheels on the stand jammed and she pitched forward. There was a startled gasp and then a swift arm wrapped around her and she was redirected to the bed, a knowing smile spread on her lips.

"There is someone I'd like you to meet, Dad."

After she'd been helped into the bed and was sitting upright, Emma grabbed the retreating figure by the wrist.

"This is Regina Mills."

Regina shot Emma a wide-eyed expression, then turned to face the taller man with her best professional smile and extended her free hand.

"Pleased to meet you, sir."

August took her hand and nodded curtly. "Good to meet you, Ms. Mills."

"Regina was with me at the finish line. We transported a little boy to Children's-"

"And then our sleeping beauty passed out by the double doors," Regina smirked. _Did I just say_ _ours_ _?_

"I did not!"

"How else do you think you ended up in a bed at an adjoining hospital, Miss Swan?"

"Listen, short shit-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll-"

"Children!"

Emma and Regina closed their mouths and suddenly became very interested in the pattern of the hospital floor.

"First off, I like her. She doesn't take your shit, Swan," August continued, and Regina chortled quietly, "Second, from what I hear, she's also the reason you got seen so quickly."

"What?"

Emma gazed up at Regina in wonder, but she kept looking the other way.

"I guess this one made such a fuss with the security guards that they had no other choice than to bring you over to Brigham and treat you. From what Kat told me, it was pretty damn hysterical."

"You never told me that," Emma nudged her with an elbow.

"You never asked," Regina shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at being the center of attention.

"I owe you a great debt, Miss Mills," August added.

"Please, call me Regina."

"Well, Regina, I owe you a debt. As much as this one is a pain in my ass, my wife would have mine stapled to the wall if I let something happen to her."

"Hey!"

"Shut up," The pair standing fired back.

Regina was the first to crack under the ridiculousness of the situation and soon all three of them had tears streaming down their faces in laughter. Kathryn knocked on the open door's frame just as they began to settle.

"Sounds like a party in here," She commented, closing the door behind her.

"Well, now it can start since the entertainment has arrived," August gave her a toothy grin.

"Dad come on, that's gross!" Emma whined, hiding her face behind Regina's hip.

Kathryn laughed and wagged a finger at him. "You haven't changed one bit, Chief Booth. And, that was one time."

"What?" Emma and Regina gasped in unison.

Kathryn rolled her eyes and waved them off, then pushed her way past August to sit on the bed.

"I'm not elaborating and you're not asking any more questions. How is your pain today, Emma?"

"Okay, I guess," Emma shrugged, "Everything feels a little tight, but that's pretty much how it's supposed to feel, right?"

Kathryn nodded. "I'm going to try and get you discharged today, if I can. No fieldwork for a couple more weeks and bedrest."

"What?" Emma cried out, voice so high they all winced. "I just came off the friggin ' bed rest!"

"That's doctor's orders."

"And if I go against doctor's orders?"

"You won't," August warned. "In fact, I'm sending your mother over to help nurse you back to health."

Emma tried to roll out of bed, but Regina stopped her, pointing warningly to the IV drip she was still attached to.

"I'm not ten!" She protested, pouting childishly with her arms crossed.

"Maybe ten and a half," Regina joked, earning her a scowl.

"Fucking comedian," Emma hissed.

Kathryn cleared her throat and brought everyone's attention back to her.

"I did have some other news for you two, about Henry."

"Who's Henry?" August asked, looking between them.

Regina, feeling the weight of the topic, sat down next to Emma and felt blindly for a part of her to hold onto.

"He's the little boy without legs who we brought to Children's."

August cursed under his breath and pulled up a chair to the bed.

"He's still in the ICU, but he's awake and talking to the nurses. He's actually very interactive, despite his condition."

"You saw him?" Regina breathed, eyes tiredly looking at the doctor.

"I had a few minutes free this morning, so I popped over. Zee showed me his chart and he'll have a difficult recovery ahead of him and she's worried about complications. But, kids are resilient, so he has a good chance."

"Any word from the group home?"

Kathryn spread her hands. "Only the basics. It sounds like they're worried they won't be able to properly care for him when he gets out of the hospital, which is going to be a while."

"So, what happens if they can't?" Emma asked, anger bubbling.

"He'll have to go on a waiting list for a facility that can."

"Like a nursing home?" Regina asked, brow furrowing.

"Unfortunately, yes. It could result in that."

"That's such shit. He's just a kid and I've seen those places," Emma protested, remembering the duration before her adoption. "He's going to be fighting for attention somewhere that's understaffed and underpaid."

Regina turned to her with a confused look, not sure what to make of the admission. Emma only took her hand and shook her head, keeping that conversation for later if there was one.

"Zee is going to make some phone calls to her contacts at Spalding and a few others, so we'll see how much headway she's able to make. She can be a very convincing person when she puts something on her radar."

"That's no joke," August offered with a laugh, "Before she switched to kids, I once saw her talk down a guy who had so much meth in his system he practically left a snail trail."

Kathryn laughed loudly. "I remember that. God, that poor bastard. Didn't he piss his pants on the walk of shame back to radiology?"

August nodded and ran a hand through his short hair. "Damn straight. She's terrifying. If anyone can get the kid the kind of treatment he needs, it's Zelena West."

"Wait-" Regina stood abruptly. "Doctor West is Zee?"

Kathryn frowned. "Yes?"

Regina let out a humorless laugh and began pacing the room, much to everyone's confusion.

"Regina, what's wrong with that?" Emma asked for everyone.

"She loathes me."

"Any particular reason?" Kathryn asked, watching the other woman flail her arms as she paced.

"Any one particular reason? No, not exactly. I may or may not have had a few unpleasant encounters with her other the years."

"I'm sure it couldn't be as bad as you-"

Regina stopped pacing and gave her an exaggerated look of exasperation.

"Okay…"

"I called her Ginger Satan."

August held back a laugh but the women in the room stayed deathly silent.

"You did what?" Kathryn asked carefully.

Regina cringed and held her hands up defensively. "I know, I know. It wasn't my proudest moment and it was stupid.

Behind them, August and Emma exchanged strained looks. Finally, Emma couldn't hold it anymore and fell onto her uninjured side, cackling into the mattress.

"I cannot believe- You- Ginger- Oh my god," Emma wheezed, smacking the mattress.

"You must have titanium balls hidden under that uniform, Mills." August chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

Unamused, Regina glared at them and contemplated on which to hit first.

"It's not funny. She's held a grudge ever since!"

"May I ask what prompted that response?" Kathryn asked evenly, face unreadable.

Regina picked at the nails on one of her hands in nervous habit and slowly brought herself to look at the doctor.

"It was when I was doing one of my first ride-along before getting certified and we brought in what we thought was an intoxicated homeless man. He was a frequent flyer and everyone but me knew who he was, obviously," She took a deep breath and began pacing again. "Turns out that he had some other things in his system and I hadn't secured him well enough on the gurney. Looking back, I can realize that and admit my mistake."

"But?"

"But, that didn't matter to Doctor West. He got loose when we were filling out the paperwork and urinated all over her workstation."

That sent Emma and August into a new volley of snickers and Kathryn rolled her eyes, trying to hold back her own laugh. Regina ceased her pacing and propped against the wall, head falling back harder than she meant to.

"She called me a 'worthless shit stain on the world of emergency services' and I called her Ginger Satan."

Kathryn brought a hand to her mouth and tried with admirable effort to contain herself. To her credit, she waited until Regina seemed to be done with the story to lose it.

"Oh dear, that is quite problematic." She managed to get out between laughs.

"Yes, yes. It's all very humorous for the rest of you." Regina replied dryly.

"Come here, chuckles," Emma motioned her over. "I'll protect you from the big bad Ginger Satan."

Regina sat down next to the uninjured side and smacked her shoulder, face twisted in an annoyed expression. Emma didn't mind and threw an arm around her, jostling her playfully.

"Isn't West, like, almost 6 feet tall?"

Regina shrugged impassively, ready for the conversation to change to something else.

"Something like that," August offered thoughtfully, "She's like a damn tree. Hell, I wouldn't mind climbing that."

"Dad!"

"August Booth, you are a married man!" Kathryn shoved his shoulder with a smile.

August gave her a conspiratorial grin and leaned in closer.

"Lily would probably beat me to it. She has a thing for redheads."

"Oh, my fucking God." Emma buried her head against Regina. "Please make it stop."

"He's not wrong though." Kathryn mused.

Emma whipped her head toward them. "Excuse me?"

August cleared his throat and stood, helping Kathryn to her feet as well.

"And on that note, I'll be taking my leave. It was good to see you again, Kat. Hopefully, next time won't be because someone gets hurt. Let Lily know when you're free next and we'll have you and David over for dinner."

Kathryn gave him a quick hug and nodded, watching him leave the room and close the door before turning back to the women.

"You gonna elaborate on that one, Doc?" Emma gave her an expectant look.

"Wasn't planning on it," Kathryn winked. "But, I will tell you that Zee said you two are welcome to visit Henry after you've been discharged. He's curious to meet the people who saved his life yesterday. Be warned, though, he's still loopy from the medications."

"Thank you," Regina said for both of them and they watched her leave the room.

Finally alone again, Emma turned on her side and faced Regina, letting a hand slide over the curve of her hip.

"Hi."

Regina sank lower in the bed and nuzzled closer. "You know what this means, right?"

"What, what means?"

"If you're getting discharged, that means we have to leave this room."

Emma sighed deeply and rubbed the other woman's back, not at all wanting to entertain the idea of leaving the quiet of this room without her.

"There's another option."

Regina turned her head up and eyed her. "What did you have in mind?"

Emma shrugged. "Well, since we're not allowed to go back to work for a while…" She trailed off, "I was thinking maybe you could keep me company or something?"

"Or something?" Regina quirked a brow.

Emma blushed. "Not like that," Her stomach dropped a second later and she backtracked, "Not that I don't want to! Because holy shit, yes, I'd love that. You're like fire and gasoline. Oh god, that sounded so fucking stupid." Emma closed her eyes, hoping to try again. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"You'd like to spend time together," Regina finished, looking at her warmly.

Emma exhaled sharply. "Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"I'd quite like that, Miss Swan."

"Do you know what I'd like, Ms. Mills?"

Regina giggled. "You sound ridiculous calling me that."

"Are you trying to say I sound old?" Emma gasped, hand dramatically grasping her chest.

"And if I was?"

"Then, I'd say you have a thing for older women."

"Do you have an issue with that detective?" Regina whispered, inching closer to her face.

"Not at all," Emma answered, eyes trailing across the soft lips closing the distance.

"Would you have an issue if I was to kiss you right now?"

A confident tongue licked out at Emma's lips, tracing the edge of her bottom lip and she thought her heart was going to explode.

"No, ma'am," Emma whispered huskily.

"Wise choice, Miss Swan."

Emma moaned, and soft lips moved against hers, passionate and slow. Regina tasted like mouthwash and a tentative tongue licked against her upper lip, silently asking for permission to enter. The hand on Regina's hip twitched to move higher, stopping from the realization of the present IV. Sensing the need for more contact, Regina pushed Emma onto her back and straddled her, never interrupting the kiss. She moved Emma's unoccupied hand up to her hair, moaning into her mouth when she felt fingers tighten near the roots.

"Why do I feel like I've known you my whole life?" Emma whispered when they parted to breathe.

Regina used delicate fingers trace her face. "You feel that way too?"

"I've felt it since I saw you at the finish line. I can't describe it, but it feels like I know you from somewhere else."

Regina placed a brief kiss to Emma's nose and rested their foreheads together.

"Maybe, in another life-"

"I'm only interested in this one," Emma cut her off, cupping her face.

"Me too."


	5. Chapter 5

Emma woke up to an empty bed and the sound of running water coming from behind the closed bathroom door. The sun shone brightly through the thin curtains and she flopped grumpily onto her stomach with a pained grunt, the poor excuse of a pillow clamping over her head. Across the room, the bathroom door opened quietly, and a freshly showered Regina walked out in just a pair of scrub bottoms and sports bra.

"My, my. Quite the view, Miss Swan."

Without removing the pillow, Emma flashed her the middle finger and Regina chuckled as she crossed the room to her medical bag where her phone sat. She quickly snapped a picture of the detective face-down on the bed while she still had her finger in the air and pocketed the device with a smug grin.

"That gown leaves very little to the imagination," Regina said quietly, running a finger up the woman's bare leg.

Emma jerked her leg back, almost hitting Regina in the face and a muffled giggle followed the startled yelp.

"I'm ticklish," Emma murmured against the bed, slowly turning to face her.

"You don't say," Regina replied dryly, drinking in the sight of pale skin glowing in the afternoon sunlight. _Those damn legs._

A finger snapped within inches of Regina's face and her eyes refocused on the smiling woman in front of her.

"Sorry?"

Emma rose a brow and tilted her head. "I said, do you see something you like?

Regina swallowed hard and knew she'd been busted falling into her daydream.

"I know I do," Emma's voice was low, and she moved to sit on the side of the bed, eyes raking over Regina's body.

Suddenly, Regina realized she was still only in a bra and reflexively crossed her arms in front of her chest. As if on cue, Emma pouted and crossed her own arms, visibly deflated.

"Well, okay then."

Regina couldn't help it and let out a small laugh. She unfolded her arms and placed them on her hips in mock scolding.

"You act like a child whose toy has been taken away."

Emma puffed out her cheeks and exhaled with a raspberry sound, "No way, you're way better than the Barbie doll I used to have."

Regina's laughter was full and melodious, echoing around the room. "You're an idiot."

"Maybe, but I think you kind of dig that."

Emma beamed up and Regina unfolded her arms, wrapping them around her exposed hips. It took all but a second for the detective to rest her face against the naked flesh of Regina's stomach, nose rubbing along her ribs.

"You definitely dig it," Emma mumbled.

Regina ran a hand through a tangle of blonde and leaned into the embrace. "Perhaps you are growing on me."

"Like a fungus."

Regina frowned and tried to push her back to look at her, but Emma wouldn't budge from her new favorite spot.

"Are you calling yourself a fungus?"

Emma shrugged. "I've been called worse. It's not like I meant like an STD or-"

Unwilling to hear the next words out of her mouth, Regina turned Emma's head to face her stomach, hoping the motion would stop whatever atrocious comparison she had planned. And, it worked. Maybe a little too well because she felt the lips against her skin curl up into a grin and they pressed a warm kiss just underneath where the sports bra ended.

"Emma…"

"I really like it when you say my name."

The words felt like a tickle against her sensitive skin and a shiver ran down Regina's back.

"We should really-"

Emma reluctantly turned her head, but kept her arms around the other woman, not wanting to let go in the least.

"I know," She replied solemnly.

"I wish we didn't have to."

"Me neither. It feels like the moment we step out of this room, everything gets more real."

"I don't know if I'm ready to. I don't know if I'm ready to see Henry or stay in an empty house until Belle gets off her shift," Regina added quietly, arms tensing around Emma.

"I mean, I have a place to myself and there's a spare room…"

Regina gently tugged on a strand of hair and Emma strained her head back to make eye contact.

"Aren't you worried you'll get tired of my presence?"

Emma shook her head, "Impossible."

"You barely know me," Regina teased, cupping her flushed cheeks.

"It doesn't feel that way," Emma replied in all seriousness.

They stared at each other, a mutual understanding of what those words meant, even if they didn't understand it completely.

"Okay."

Blonde eyebrows shot up. "Okay?"

Regina nodded. "Okay."

"Okay!"

"But, I need to go back to my house and change after we see Henry. I've never liked wearing scrubs."

Emma gave her a smirk. "I think they look just great on you."

"What a charmer."

"Oh yeah, I'm a regular Casanova."

"Casanova was a scam artist and womanizer, Miss Swan."

Emma huffed and kissed one of Regina's hands and motioned for her to back up to let Emma stretch her legs.

"Alright, smartass, not Casanova then. Don Juan?"

"Fictional character." Regina shook her head, pulling a scrub top over her curls and blew one out of her face.

"A knight?"

Regina laughed under her breath. "Too clumsy."

"Well, I'm sure as shit not a Prince Charming, so what do you suggest?"

Regina regarded her with a lopsided smile and pulled her closer by the hands.

"How about," Her face scrunched up in contemplation, "Savior?"

Emma frowned, eventually shrugging a shoulder. "Sounds pompous, but it'll do for now. Of course, now this means you'll need a nickname too."

"Is that so?" Regina chuckled, rubbing the other woman's knuckles softly, "Why would you call me, Savior?"

Emma's face contorted in a grimace, "Oh god, that is obnoxious. We're definitely figuring something else out."

She brought the other woman's hands up to her face and kissed the calloused palms, taking a moment to consider her answer.

"Let's see. You like to be in control," Regina smirked at her and she grinned back, "And you fucking know it. You're strong but have a soft side." She barked a laugh when Regina's scowled at the description. "Nice try, but you do. You don't take any shit, but give all the shits."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Okay, poor choice of words. Sue me."

"Your vocabulary leaves some to be desired, Miss Swan."

"And you're unnecessarily formal," Emma teased.

"I'm a professional, Dear," Regina shot back, raising her chin in indignation.

"Queenie."

Regina's head snapped back, and she looked at Emma with a mixture of mirth and suspicion.

"What?"

Emma beamed at her. "When I eventually figure out where the hell my phone went, I'm putting you in there as Queenie."

"Idiot," Regina scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"The Idiot Savior," Emma nodded, pleased with herself, "I like it. It has a nice ring to it."

"How on Earth did you make it all the way to detective?"

Regina felt a vibration from her back pocket and slipped her phone out. It was a message from Belle.

 **B:** Gold has me pulling a double

 **Gina:** I'm really sorry, Belle. Will he let me work instead?

 **B:** Pfft. No way. You don't wanna be out here anyway.

 **Gina:** ?

 **B:** Everyone's nervous. Bombers still AWOL

 **Gina:** No leads?

 **B:** Some BS on Reddit but nothing solid.

The nurse knocked on the door at the same time that Regina took a seat in the nearby chair and Emma waved her in.

"Hi, there. I'm here to take that IV out for you."

Emma sighed in relief. "Oh, thank fuck. I hate these things."

"Everyone does," The nurse laughed, grabbing a pair of gloves, "Have a seat and I'll make it quick."

Regina felt another vibration and averted her eyes from the pair.

 **B:** Are you going to be okay at home tonight?

She looked up and smiled warmly in Emma's direction, then looked back down to type.

 **Gina:** Actually, I was going to stay with Emma for a while.

 **B:** The weeble wobble?

Regina threw her head back and laughed loudly, effectively startling both the nurse and Emma. She mouthed an apology and pointed to the phone.

 **Gina:** Yes, the weeble wobble.

 **B:** Jesus, you work fast.

 **Gina:** It's not like that… She's been very kind to me.

 **B:** I expect an address, location pin, and a picture of her residence.

 **Gina:** Belle…

 **B:** Fight me on it, I dare you.

 **Gina:** I'll send you the address as soon as I get it and drop the pin once I get there, okay?

 **B:** And the picture.

 **Gina:** Belle, that's entirely unnecessary.

 **B:** After everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, I beg to differ.

 **Gina:** How are you? Really?

 **B:** Not great, but I can't get into it. We just got dispatched. I'll TTYL okay? Don't forget the address.

 **Gina:** I won't, I promise. I love you, and please be safe. 3

 **B:** 3 you too.

"Everything okay?"

Emma sat down on the arm of the chair and began rubbing her back. She gave her a noncommittal shrug and stared down at the blacked-out screen of her phone.

"I suppose as okay as things can be right now."

"I'm guessing that was your friend?"

Regina nodded. "She's pulling a double. No doubt because they're beefing up the shifts. She said everyone's on high alert and the only leads circulating are online."

"I'll have to ask August about that. Sometimes being the daughter of the Chief of Police has its perks."

"Indeed," Regina regarded her curiously.

"What?"

"How does something like that happen?"

"The whole being a detective in the same department as my dad and he's my boss?"

"Yes. It seems like it blurs more than one ethical line. No offense."

Emma shrugged. "None taken. I've done a fair amount of floating around for a bit and the last 6 months have been spent in his department. Think of it as a kind of cross-training thing."

"What type of cross-training? Oh, and by the way, Doctor Nolan came by while you were still sleeping and dropped off a bag of your personal effects from when they had you admitted."

Regina motioned weakly to the plastic bag next to her med kit. Her muscles felt heavier today, the weight of the world settling itself onto her shoulder.

"Oh!" Emma squealed and moved as fast as her stitches allowed over to the bag, excited to find her phone. "I was sure this damn thing got left at the-"

Emma flung the phone onto the bed and watched in horror as it buzzed repeatedly for a solid minute, the notifications of missed calls and messages pouring in all at once.

"Fuck sake. Is it done yet?" Emma peered cautiously at the bedspread.

Regina rolled her eyes and laughed, leaning forward. "I believe so. You seem to be quite popular."

The detective crept closer to the bed, as if a too quick movement would somehow set off a change reaction with the phone. She picked it up with disdain, but her distaste was clouded over with a bark of laughter.

"That crazy little shit," Emma muttered, swiping through her messages.

"Hm?" Regina asked absently, still holding her own phone tightly between her hands.

Emma flipped the phone around and leaned forward to show Regina the screen.

"This would be my best friend in the entire world," She beamed proudly, tapping the screen.

Regina slowly raised her eyes to look at what Emma was trying to show her, and when she saw it… She was stunned into silence. Almost.

"Is she-"

"Oh, yes. That's newly promoted Detective Lucas."

"But she- she is-" Regina stuttered.

"She's…" Emma egged.

"Where are her clothes?"

Emma chuckled, turning the phone back around and swiped a few more times.

"Her uniform got mucked up yesterday," Emma began, her eyes glazing over for only a second and she recovered. "So, she had to bio-bag them."

Regina looked at her disbelieving. "I don't recall hazmat requiring us to strip outside medical tents for all to see, Emma."

The detective snorted and shrugged her shoulders, a playful smile spreading across her face.

"That's Ruby for you. She's the most unpredictable predictable woman I know. Never a dull moment. Remind me to tell you about when she passed her entrance exam. Now that was a crazy ass party."

Regina leaned back in the chair and drew her legs up near her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"I can't imagine Belle doing something like that. Next to my mother, she's the most structured person I've ever met. Quiet as a mouse, never late to work, and would rather keep her head in a book than do anything else."

"How did you two end up becoming friends then?"

Regina finally smiled. "A boob joke."

Emma threw her head back with laughter. "Jesus. That's rich. I didn't think you had it in you, Mills."

Brown eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Tread lightly, Detective."

Emma smirked and rounded the bed to stand in front of her. "Or what?"

"Or else your stitches will end up on the business end of my finger."

Her smirk spread, an eyebrow quirking. "Might be worth the risk if it gets your hands on me again."

Taking it as a challenge, Regina shot a hand out and hovered a pointed finger over the other woman's side, careful to not actually touch her. Predictably, Emma startled, though she didn't move out of range.

"Do you fancy playing with fire, Detective?" Regina drawled, curling her finger with a smirk.

Emma licked her lips and assessed the hand. "If you only knew."

Unexpectedly, Emma reached out and took Regina's hand in hers, rough fingers rubbing gently into the space between dry knuckles.

"Something tells me you like playing with fire too," She added, flicking her eyes from the hand into soft brown eyes.

Regina swallowed. "Perhaps."

"You like that word a lot," Emma mused. "It means you neither have to say yes or no. You leave things ambiguous on purpose. That way you can see which way a situation is going to go before committing to a permanent decision."

Regina sat in silence, eyes burning at the prolonged direct eye contact. No one, not even Belle, had possessed the audacity to lay her personality so plainly out. This equal part infuriated and intrigued her.

She pursed her lips before speaking. "Are you analyzing me, Detective Swan?"

Emma met the scowl with a lopsided grin. "Hardly. Just observing."

"Observing." Regina repeated, trying to not be distracted by the continuous touch of fingers.

"Isn't that why we do what we do? We like to observe people. Their habits, their reactions and lives."

"I am not a voyeur."

Emma chuckled, rolling her eyes. "I didn't say you were, Regina. I'm just saying there's more than what meets the eye and, at least for me, I want to see what's behind the exterior."

"What exactly do you think you'll find?"

Emma didn't speak right away and it frustrated Regina. The way the blonde looked at her with complete understanding and comfortability irritated the ever-loving hell out of her. Who did this woman think she was? She didn't know Regina from anyone else and yet, she seemed to know more than some she'd known for years. _Who are you, Emma Swan?_

Their staring match was interrupted by Kathryn shoving the door open without a single care.

"Discharge papers!" She called out, waving the short stack in the air. "Now, will you respectively remove your squatting ass out of my hospital and go home to heal?"

Emma turned her head to talk and shielded their hands with her body, not wanting to lose the intimate contact.

"I'm not squatting if I'm injured, Doc!"

"Debatable," Kathryn scoffed, tossing the papers on the bed. "You know the drill. Stay off your damn feet, you still have a pain script, and please, for the love of God, don't tear them again."

Emma deadpanned. "Yes, because I definitely did it on purpose to see your beautiful face again."

"Wouldn't be the first time a patient fell in love with a doctor."

"Does this look like an episode of Grey's Anatomy to you?" Emma shot back, eyes rolling.

Emma bit back a smile when she heard a quieted giggle come from behind her. She hadn't thought that joke funny enough to crack the other woman's mood, but she was glad it had and wouldn't mind making her laugh more when they got out of here.

"Cute reference, Swan. Take that comedy act back to The Wilbur after you get better."

Regina peeked around Emma. "Does this mean we can visit Henry now?"

Kathryn's face dropped. "He's had a trying few hours from what Zee mentioned."

"Oh," The EMT deflated.

"But," Kathryn cautioned. "It may be alright, as long as you make it a quick visit. I doubt he'll be able to withstand much more than 10 minutes or so."

"We'll take it," Emma answered for both of them.

"I'll let Zee know. Your father brought some clothes for you when he came in this morning. I'll have a nurse bring them in, then I'll take you over to Children's."

The pair nodded, and they were left alone in silence once again. It was Regina that broke the fragile quiet.

"Emma?"

She turned back to face the woman in the chair, and Emma recognized the curled-up posture.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared to see him."

Emma sat on the chair's arm and pulled Regina to her, keeping a firm hold on her hand.

"I am too."

"I just… I've never done anything like this before."

"And that's okay. Everything you're feeling is okay, Regina." Emma reassured her, slipping her hand into the other woman's loose hair.

Regina looked up at her. "You're so calm about this, even though you said you're scared. How?"

Emma shrugged. "It's been a long life. Lots of stuff has happened and, after a while, less becomes surprising."

"You make it sound like you've lived a lifetime, and you can't be older than mid-30s."

"Perhaps I've lived several."

Regina smiled softly. "Now who's using that word?"

Emma returned her smile and turned her attention to the door when it opened for the second time since she'd woken up. The nurse shuffled busily into the room and didn't give their closeness a second look, leaving the bag of clothing next to the bed.

Emma peeked inside the bag, rifling through the garments with a grimace. "The thought of my dad picking out a bra and underwear for me is gross."

Regina chuckled, eyebrow lifting in interest. "What did he bring for you?"

"Sweats, long sleeve shirt, socks, underwear, and a sports bra. I may have to ask the nurse to come back because the bra and shirt are going to suck to get on."

Regina licked her lips and walked around the bed, fingers of one hand playing with a stray fiber in the blanket under the bag.

"I could, you know." Her eyes avoided Emma's.

Emma swallowed. "Regina, you don't have to."

Regina worried a lip between her teeth. "I'd like to. But, if you don't want me to-"

"No!" Emma reached out, "I mean, yes. I mean. Shit," She shook her head with an embarrassed smile. "Yes, I'd like you to. I just want you to know I'm not expecting you to."

Regina's lip slipped from her teeth and she looked up at the flustered detective, a sexy smile playing across her face.

"That's very considerate of you, Detective Swan. But…"

Emma felt her stomach drop. "But?"

She moved fast, and now she stood pressed hotly against Emma's front with her lips pressed in a grin against her ear.

"I rarely find myself doing things I don't wish to do."

Emma shivered. "Holy shit."

"Shirt or pants?"

Green eyes bulged. "W-What?"

There was a low chuckle and gentle hands made their way to Emma's hips, fingers dancing along the exposed skin at the open-backed gown.

"Would you like to put on pants first, or a shirt?" Regina cooed into her ear.

Emma cleared her throat and swallowed hard. "P-probably pants?"

The hands on her back still and lowered to the waistband of the boxer briefs but waited for approval.

"Do you want to change these?"

Emma laughed. She couldn't help it really, it just came out in nervous habit.

"Something funny, Detective?"

 _You have no fucking idea._ "N-No."

"May I take these off?"

 _Is she kidding me?_ "I-"

Regina pointed behind her to the bag and made a come-hither motion with two fingers. The sight of the commanding fingers almost buckled Emma's knees.

"Don't worry, Miss Swan. You may keep the gown on."

 _You cocky little…_

Emma reached into the bag and picked the new underwear out, holding it in a clenched hand as she felt Regina's own slide into the back of the gown.

"May I?" Regina asked again, her tone dropping an octave.

 _Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the goddamn disciples "_ Yes."

Emma felt two fingers hook into her underwear and her breath caught in her throat as they started their slow descent. They'd just lowered past her ass when her eyes caught Regina. Her eyes never left Emma's when she dropped to a knee in front of her, the piece of material scratching down her knees and pooling at her ankles. She balanced herself with a hand on Regina's shoulder as she stepped out of them, well aware that if the other woman paid close enough attention then she'd see the obvious state of Emma's arousal. But she didn't look down and instead held out a hand.

"New pair, Dear."

Emma let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding and extended her hand.

"Good girl," Regina praised.

 _I'm going to die in this hospital room,_ Emma thought to herself. Those words had ignited an entirely new fire inside her. It was bad enough that she'd spent the better part of the last 24 hours with this woman tucked against her body and now she was without underwear with her just inches from where Emma really wanted her.

"Hold onto me and lift your leg."

Emma rocked back from her thoughts of Regina on her knees and stared down at her wide-eyed.

"What?"

Regina stretched the undergarment with her hands and smirked up at the blonde.

"Unless you'd like to forego them?"

Emma nearly choked, barely recovering to answer. "No, thank you."

She steadied herself against Regina again and lifted a shaky leg up, surprising even herself when she didn't collapse when one of the other woman's nail caught on her ankle.

"Other leg, please," Regina asked, voice husky.

"Look at you asking all nicely," Emma teased, lifting her other leg more confidently.

"Miss Swan…" She cautioned.

"Emma."

"Emma…"

"Yes?"

Regina bowed her head and her nails sank into the backs of Emma's knees, not hard enough to leave marks but enough to make a point.

"Must you make this more difficult than it needs to be?"

Emma observed her and moved the hand from her shoulder, using it to lift Regina's chin upward. Heat rose in her chest when she saw enlarged pupils and flushed cheeks.

"I'm not the one who volunteered to help an injured woman replace her underwear."

Emma knew she was walking a thin, dangerous line. In every other aspect of her life, she'd been calculated and careful with each of her choices. All except this one. This time she wanted fire to meet gasoline.

Regina licked her lips and they settled in a determined smirk. She pulled the underwear up the remaining length of Emma's legs and reveled in the stifled moan from above as she nails left a trail of fiery red markings from knee to ass. _Two can play at this game,_ she thought.

Next came the sweatpants and they went on without much difficulty. Emma supported herself against Regina much the same way, but this time stumbled a little when the second pant leg was pulled up. The EMT caught her with a strong arm around her hips and their lips nearly touched. The final task was the bra and shirt, a much-anticipated attempt to both of them.

Regina snapped once and nodded hungrily at the gown. "Off."

Emma turned with a barely contained grin, giving her a full view of her exposed back. "Untie me?"

"With pleasure," Regina responded with a low chuckle, enjoying the visible tensing of muscle.

"Usually people have to buy me dinner before seeing me this naked," Emma teased, sweeping her hair to the side.

"How about I cook us dinner tonight instead?"

Emma raised her brows, casting an approving look over her shoulder. "Beautiful and a good cook. How ever will I resist you?"

Regina hooked a finger in the tied gown and tugged slightly, bringing Emma flush against her front. "You won't."

Emma was ready to spit back another comeback, but the gown was ripped from her body and now lay crumpled in a pile on the opposing side of the bed. She quickly covered her front with her arms and cursed.

"A little warning, Regina! It's not exactly a sauna in here."

Regina chuckled and wrapped her arms around her, settling spread hand across Emma's stomach, careful to not bump the bandage. The warmth brought goosebumps to the surface of pale skin.

"Be a dear and hand me the bra," She murmured behind her ear, quickly adding, "Please."

Emma tried to calm her breathing and reach for the bra without leaving herself fully exposed. She wasn't having much luck and a quiet moan dripped from her lips as the hands on her stomach began to ascend.

"Regina," She moaned louder, head dropping back, and an arm reached behind her blindly for purchase. Modesty was no longer a luxury she wanted.

"It appears you could use a hand, or two."

"Regina," Emma repeated, curling a hand around the back of her neck.

"Ask me nicely, Emma." Regina purred, teasing a finger just under an arching breast.

Emma groaned. "Fuck."

"Try again."

"Please," Emma whimpered, knees threatening to give.

"Good-"

"Don't you dare fin-"

"Girl," Regina cut her off, hands fully cupping small breasts.

"Goddamn you," Emma breathed out, arching as far as her stitches would allow.

"Hand me your bra, Miss Swan."

"No."

"If you don't, then I'll need to remove my hands," She emphasized the threat with a small squeeze.

"Don't you dare," Emma moaned, hips involuntarily rolling back, and she winced at the tug on her stitches.

"Careful of your injury," Regina warned, seeing the discomfort.

Emma chuckled and turned her head. "Yes, ma'am."

Regina tilted forward and captured her lips, hand dropping from a breast to hold Emma more firmly to her. After a stunned moment, Emma kissed her back and the hand around her neck tightened. The position didn't allow for much movement, but neither woman cared. Emma was no longer cold, and Regina was burning up under her scrubs. The pair kissed and touched, hands feeling everywhere and nowhere in particular, yet it wasn't enough. Emma felt something slip past her arm and she abruptly turned in Regina's arms, confused.

"What the-"

Regina grinned triumphantly at her, lips puffy. "I thought it best to distract you while I help you put this on."

Emma stared bewilderedly at the partially put on bra and looked back up incredulously at Regina, whose grin had evolved to a full-blown toothy smile.

"When in the hell did you get this over my head?"

Regina shrugged. "As it turns out, you're rather easy to distract."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't recall stuttering."

"You're something else," Emma scoffed, gingerly pulling the rest of the bra on.

"I could say the same of you, Miss Swan."

Emma tilted her head to the side. "Are you pouting right now?"

Regina reached behind her and pulled the shirt out of the bag. "No."

Mouth agape, Emma laughed loudly. "Oh my God, you are. I put on a bra and you're pouting."

"I am not."

"You liar!" She pointed at the scowl. "It's right there! The pout."

Regina caught the hand in the sleeve of the shirt and slid it on. "You're delusional from the medication."

"Mhm. I'm sure," Emma nodded, letting her put the rest of the shirt on.

"There, now you're fully clothed."

"I'm not letting this one go, Regina. You can bet on it."

"We shall see about that," She pursed her lips, tugging on her own shirt, the rough material irritating her skin.

Emma laughed and took the hands in hers, kissing the knuckles sweetly.

"Are you ready to face the world?"

Regina took a deep breath and exhaled with her eyes closed. "I believe so."

Emma brought the hands to her chest and gave them a squeeze. Regina opened her eyes and relaxed into the gaze of soft emeralds.

"Together."


	6. Chapter 6

"Why do I have to ride in this damned wheelchair?"

Emma was the least impressed person in their group, rolling across the connecting bridge from Brigham and Women's to Children's Hospital. The trio paused outside the single elevator doors and Regina reached forward to press the call button.

"If you recall, you're the one injured."

Emma rolled her eyes and rubbed her foot against the metal pedal. "I think you just wanted to wear my memory foam slippers."

"They're rather comfortable," Regina chuckled, wheeling her inside the elevator.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to keep your boots, Regina." Kathryn apologized, following them inside.

"It's alright, I was due for a new pair anyway," Regina lied, avoiding the topic.

"Yeah, and now you're wearing my rather comfortable shoes and I'm freezing my toes off."

"Somehow, I think a big, strong detective such as yourself will be just fine," Regina teased.

"Careful, Regina. If you inflate that ego any more, it'll crash this elevator."

"Seriously?" Emma retorted, unamused.

The elevator doors opened, and they exited towards the closed sliding glass door. Kathryn scanned her badge on the pad and led them inside to the brightly colored hallway. They went down so many hallways and elevators that Emma couldn't keep track of which color belonged to what area. After a long ten minutes, they got out of the final elevator where Kathryn had to badge them into yet another area. The double doors slowly opened, and the pair trailed closely behind the doctor, reality beginning to settle in and anxiety rising like the subtle beeps of nearby monitors.

"Wait."

The wheelchair stopped abruptly, and Regina caught Emma's blindly reaching hand.

"Emma, what's wrong?" Regina asked softly, crouching at the side of the wheelchair.

She took a deep breath. "I just- I need a minute. Can we wait a minute?"

Regina gave Kathryn a pleading look and was given a sad nod in return. The doctor reached down and squeezed her shoulder.

"I'll go find Zee and let her know we're here. Stay here and she'll find you after we talk. Okay?"

"Thank you, Doctor."

"You're welcome."

Emma waited until Kathryn rounded the corner of the unit to speak.

"I'm sorry," She exhaled, running a tense hand through her hair.

"For what?"

"I thought I was ready to do this."

Regina rubbed her knuckles. "You don't need to apologize. I'm scared to see him too."

"Is this really fucking happening?"

Emma looked around the ICU floor and felt a heaviness press into her chest. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to see any of this, least of all a very hurt little boy in a hospital bed.

"This feels like the worst goddamn nightmare that keeps replaying."

Regina nodded quietly in agreement and allowed her to continue.

"How old do you think he is? 9? 10? What about the other people in here and the other hospitals?" Emma gestured around them. "It's insanity."

"I know."

It was all Regina could say. There weren't any fancy words or kind sayings that could ease the pain or erase everything that had been seen. She wasn't even confident time would fully heal this wound, not for them, not for anyone in this city.

"I guess we're in this together now, aren't we?" Emma asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Regina thought about this for a moment. She looked around the floor, then back at the woman in the wheelchair. She knew she shouldn't get so attached to someone she didn't know or tether herself to someone after an event like this. Though this time, just this once, she quieted the voice in the back of her mind.

She kissed the trembling hand and rested it on her cheek. "Together."

As Regina was starting to stand again, they saw a towering blur of red strut around the corner and Emma let out a chuckle.

"I should've taken a bet with Kat."

"A bet?"

"To see which one of you would start a fight," Emma snorted.

Regina flicked the back of Emma's head, earning an outcry of protest and she bit back a smile as the redhead grew closer, the sound of quickly clicking heels getting menacingly louder.

"Detective Swan, I presume?" The tall woman asked, voice professional and clipped.

"Yes, ma'am," Emma answered, extending a hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Detective," She cast a distasteful look in Regina's direction. "I see you brought a pet."

Emma could practically feel Regina fuming behind her. "So, it's true. You two have met before."

"Unfortunately," Zelena sniffed, hands retreating into her pockets. "Kathryn tells me you want to see the munchkin?"

"Obviously," Regina muttered under her breath.

"If that would be alright," Emma added quickly with a strained smile.

The jab didn't go unnoticed by the doctor, but she let it slide with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

"You'd benefit from taking pointers from your new friend, Regina." Zelena scolded, motioning them to follow her. "She is at least professional."

Emma shook from the not so subtle jerk of the wheelchair stopping and she closed her eyes with an inward groan.

"Regina…" She cautioned.

"I'm fine," Regina gritted out between clenched teeth.

"If I turn around in this chair and see devil horns and a tail, we're going to have issues."

Emma felt another flick to her head and the wheelchair resumed its path behind the doctor, who was now several feet in front of them.

"I'm just saying…" Emma shrugged, arms in the air.

"I will flick you again, Miss Swan." Regina hissed.

"Keep calling me, Miss Swan, and I'm going to liberate some of those letters and make a new word," Emma hissed back, turning to face her with raised brows.

Regina tripped. Not just any type of trip, or even a graceful trip that could've been saved with a redirect of footing. No. Regina Mills, medical professional and woman of impeccable controlled demeanor tripped on her own two feet and fell face first to the floor. Emma's chair continued its slow forward motion for a few feet before Emma realized the driver had suddenly disappeared. She frowned and turned as best as she could, and a hand shot to her mouth, a futile prayer to conceal the snort that escaped.

"The term ass over tea kettle seems way too easy for this," Emma chuckled, her hand lowered to reveal a toothy grin.

Regina glared fiercely up at her from the floor, managing thinly to bite back the snarl twitching at her lips.

"Not another word, Swan." Regina gritted out as she tried to stand.

"Really, Dear, if you insist on using your face as a mop on my ICU floor, at least do us the favor of actually doing some work."

Regina paused mid-kneel and flushed a comical shade of red at the voice behind her. Emma stared back at her, teeth visibly biting into her lips with a grin. She had to close her eyes to maintain composure when Regina's embarrassed blush darkened around spark-filled brown eyes.

Regina rose quickly and turned to face the doctor. "My apologies, Doctor West. I must have been distracted by your stylish hair color."

Zelena considered her, a tight smirk forming. "I'm Irish, Dear. The real question you want to ask is whether the detective is actually blonde."

Regina blanched and forgot to breathe, remembering just how close she'd come to answering that very question when kissing Emma's wound the night before. The soft, hot flesh of Emma's toned skin under her lips, inches away from—

"Focus, Mills!"

Fingers snapped glazed eyes back into focus and the unimpressed redhead's face shook with an eyeroll.

"Speaking as a doctor, might I recommend that you 'itch that scratch' sooner rather than later, for everyone's sake that has to deal with you."

Regina swallowed hard, too embarrassed at being caught in an obvious daydream with Emma barely out of earshot.

"Might I also recommend there are several ample websites that can assist you-"

"Please, stop."

"I hear they even make blow-up dolls nowadays."

"You're a doctor, this is inappropriate."

"Then there's just plain, bare bones masturbation-"

"Doctor West-"

"Oh, I know! Why don't I just ask Detective Swan if she'd like to-"

Uncharacteristically, Regina snapped and surged forward, clapping a frantic hand over the other woman's mouth.

"Finish that sentence and I will purposely find the nearest fire alarm and activate it," Regina hissed in a deadly low tone.

Zelena smirked behind the hand and Regina lowered it hesitantly, giving her a warning look.

"My, my, Regina. X really does mark the spot and you're smitten. Perhaps you should pull the fire alarm, though I doubt the suppression system would do much to taper that 5-alarm you're experiencing."

Zelena cackled as Regina turned an impossible shade of crimson and stepped around her, pushing the wheelchair forward once again with a confused Emma still turned in her seat.

"Care you share?" Emma inquired, glancing around the doctor to the still stationary Regina.

Zelena chortled. "I wouldn't, but she certainly would."

"What the hell is that supposed to-"

"Let's go." Regina cut in, catching up to the pair.

In a not so gentle side-check, Regina maneuvered herself behind the wheelchair and continued pushing Emma, who had grown more and more suspicious about the conversation that had transpired out of her ability to hear.

They walked down the expanse of the ICU, past the nurse's station and turned right to the edge of the unit where they stopped in front of the second to last room. Henry's room. Regina was about to push Emma inside when a closed fist lifted from the hand rest.

"Wait," Emma's voice was like gravel on concrete. "I don't want him to see me in this thing."

"Emma, he isn't going to-"

"I said, I'll walk."

Not wanting to argue, Regina took her hands off the wheelchair and backed away. Without a second thought, Emma lifted herself from the chair with considerable discomfort. Regina worried her lower lip between her teeth as she watched the other woman's face scrunch up painfully as she straightened.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not made of glass," Emma winced, gingerly stretching her arms over her head.

"No, I don't imagine you are," Regina replied in a hushed tone. _Perhaps something far more precious._

"What's that look for?"

Regina frowned. "What look?"

"That." Emma gestured with a flippant hand, "Pinched brows, crow's feet by your eyes, and an undertone that you're thinking awfully hard about something."

The EMT let out a weak chuckle and pushed the vacant wheelchair off to the other side of the hall with an amused grin.

"Detective Swan are you analyzing me?"

Emma licked her lips reflexively and closed the short distance between them, invading Regina's space before either could realize what was happening.

"Analyzing would imply I think there's something wrong. Observing, however, is a better descriptor."

"Quite the vernacular you have."

"Surprised?"

Regina shrugged, mirth sparkling in her eyes. "A tad."

"A tad? Jeez, Regina, how old are you?"

"A lady never tells."

"A lady doesn't go around seducing injured officers."

"Said injured officers shouldn't go around collapsing into my seducing arms."

"Or lips," Emma shot back, bringing adoring fingers to Regina's cheek.

"Or lips," Regina echoed, skin feeling hot under the gentle touch.

"Are you two going to shag in the middle of my ICU, or would you prefer to sneak into a broom closet like the couple of teenagers you are?"

Zelena's voice cut through the intimate moment and the pair awkwardly parted from each other, two sets of eyes focusing on opposite ends of the unit.

"Lovely. Now that, that is settled, can we proceed? We're rounding soon, and I don't want to over-exert Henry."

"We understand," Regina replied quietly, eyes slowing raising to meet Emma's.

Zelena disappeared into the room to talk to Henry and the pair stared into each other's eyes for a long moment in the open hallway.

"We keep stalling," Emma chuckled.

"We is rather generous, Dear."

Emma tucked a loose strand of hair behind Regina's ear, letting her hand linger along the jawline.

"Are you sure you want to come in with me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you don't really know me, and you were responding when you met Henry, and-"

Regina covered Emma's hand with hers and leaned forward to capture her lips. The movement was slow, allowing for Emma to pull back if she wished as lips hovered over hers.

"And, now that I've met you, I don't believe I can imagine not getting to know you better," Regina finished.

The kiss held everything they hadn't talked about. It was sweet and full of sorrow, worry of loss without the solidity of committed roots. Two very different women on a similar side of that call to duty. One to protect and the other to serve. The kiss ended as gently as it began, their hands lowering and lacing together.

"Let's go see our boy," Regina whispered firmly, squeezing the hand in hers.

 _Ours,_ Emma thought. She'd said ours with such conviction and Emma knew, from there on out, this wouldn't be as any other time before. She'd found the woman from her dreams, from under a blanket of bombs and blue.


End file.
